Diamond Proliferator Guide

If your factories are starting to feel constrained by Diamond supply, or you want to start using Proliferators without wasting Coal and machine time, this guide shows you how to set up a practical chain that works well in play. Diamond and the three Proliferator tiers are tightly connected, so the smartest way to build them is to decide what to unlock first, how to feed the line, and where to use the output for the most value.

Start with the Diamond route that matches your stage of the game

Start with the simplest route first: smelt Energetic graphite into Diamond. That is the cleanest way to get the material online while your Coal-based production is still comfortable, and it is the route you should lean on until your factory starts asking for more advanced materials in volume. Diamond can also be smelted directly from Kimberlite ore, which is useful once you have access to it, but treat that as a supplement rather than your default plan unless Coal is already under pressure.

Here is the quick reference for the core items in this chain:

A single Smelter making Diamond from Energetic graphite is enough to support 4 Matrix Labs producing Structure Matrix, or 1 Assembling Machine Mk.I producing Graviton Lens. That is the level you should think about when planning your first Diamond line: small, dedicated, and tied to a real downstream need. Diamond is also required for Proliferator Mk.II, so once you start using spray seriously, demand rises faster than it first appears.

Do not try to solve Diamond “globally” with a giant unspecialized line. Its demand is concentrated in a few important recipes, so you should build just enough to keep science and key components moving. If you have Kimberlite ore, use it to supplement your supply and reduce pressure on Coal-based production, especially once your Energetic graphite is already doing double duty in fuel and other intermediates.

Build a Diamond supply line that does not starve the rest of your factory

This is the part that usually bites factories later: Diamond competes indirectly with other Coal-derived industries, because Energetic graphite and Coal are useful in multiple places. If you push Diamond too hard too early, you will end up starving fuel production, thermal power, and other Coal-based chains. The fix is not to avoid Diamond; it is to plan its source based on your bottleneck.

Early on, a graphite-based line is usually the right choice because it is simple and fits naturally into a Coal economy. As soon as science and lens production scale up, dedicate a separate smelting line so Diamond does not get treated as leftover output. Once Universe Matrix production begins, Coal consumption becomes significant, and Kimberlite ore becomes especially valuable because it can replace part of the Coal-based route with direct Diamond smelting. That lets you preserve Coal for uses that cannot be substituted as easily.

When Kimberlite ore is available, use it to offset Coal consumption rather than replacing your whole Diamond setup at once. It is a niche resource, and it shines best when it helps smooth shortages. If your Energetic graphite line is already stretched, shifting some Diamond production to Kimberlite ore can prevent a larger cascade of shortages downstream.

Unlock and use Proliferator Mk.I as your first spray workflow

Proliferator Mk.I is the tier you should unlock first and actually use. Build a Spray Coater over a conveyor belt, and start by spraying a line you already understand, such as Coal going into Energetic graphite or Coal feeding Thermal Power Plant fuel. That gives you an immediate benefit and teaches the flow without putting your factory at risk.

Mk.I is modest, but it is the easiest way to get comfortable with proliferating ingredients, fuels, and even Proliferator itself. Use it on recipe ingredients when you want extra products or a production speedup, but remember the rule that matters most: all ingredients must have Proliferator points for the bonus to apply. If even one input is unproliferated or at a lower level, the lowest level among the inputs is what counts. That means you should spray the entire recipe chain, not just one part of it.

You should also spray your own Proliferator Mk.I output once production is stable. That is one of the best early habits to build, because proliferating proliferator increases the spray content each unit can provide and helps bootstrap a self-sustaining network. Mk.I has 12 sprays, gives +12.5% extra products or +25.0% production speedup, and increases energy consumption by +30.0%. Those numbers are strong enough to matter, but low enough that you can afford to learn on a basic line without overcommitting power.

Move up to Proliferator Mk.II when the extra output is worth the power draw

Proliferator Mk.II is where spray starts to become a serious factory tool instead of a convenience. It still uses the same Spray Coater workflow, but it is much more powerful: 24 sprays, +20.0% extra products, +50.0% production speedup, and +70.0% energy consumption. That jump in power draw is real, so do not upgrade everything just because it exists.

Use Mk.II where the bonus actually pays for itself. Power fuel production is a good place to start, because better output there helps support the rest of the factory. It is also useful on production lines where you can tolerate the added energy demand and want to squeeze more from a bottleneck. The important caution is that Mk.II only delivers its effect when all raw materials in the recipe have Proliferator points, so you need to spray the full input set before expecting results.

For production, Mk.II can be made through a Coal-based path using Energetic graphite and Diamond, and Kimberlite ore can also serve as an alternative input path. That makes Kimberlite ore especially valuable later, because it can reduce Coal use in the Diamond portion of the chain. If you are short on Coal, do not force the Coal-only route just because it is familiar; switch part of the supply to Kimberlite ore and keep your broader factory from choking.

Reserve Proliferator Mk.III for the lines that are worth the late-game cost

Proliferator Mk.III is the tier for late-game, high-output factory design. It is also applied with a Spray Coater, but it comes with a much heavier energy bill: 60 sprays, +25.0% extra products, +100.0% production speedup, and +150.0% energy consumption. That is a huge boost, but it is not something you should scatter across every line by default.

Treat Mk.III as a selective upgrade for downstream processes that are either bottlenecked or especially valuable. It is dense, easier to transport and store in bulk, and that matters once your factory becomes large enough that logistics are as important as raw item count. Its recipe is also more demanding because it requires Carbon nanotube, so do not expect to mass-produce it early without paying for that complexity somewhere else.

The best time to lean on Mk.III is when your power system is already strong and factory footprint matters more than material efficiency. In late-game Dyson Sphere builds, that trade-off starts to make sense: compact, high-output production lines become worth the power penalty. Use it where the product is important enough to justify the cost, and leave less critical lines on Mk.I or Mk.II.

The simple rule is this: start with Diamond from Energetic graphite, bring in Kimberlite ore when Coal starts getting tight, learn spray with Proliferator Mk.I, then upgrade selectively to Mk.II and Mk.III only where the gains clearly justify the power draw. If you follow that order, Diamond stops being a bottleneck and Proliferators become a real throughput tool instead of a drain on your Coal supply.