Proliferator Mk.II

Proliferator Mk.II is a consumable proliferator applied by the Spray Coater to items on conveyor belts. When sprayed items are later used as raw materials in the next production step, they grant either extra products or production speedup, at the cost of higher power consumption. Compared with Proliferator Mk.I, Mk.II gives a stronger bonus and a larger energy penalty, making it a middle-tier option between the early and late proliferator grades.

Its production is more involved than Mk.I, but it still uses only Coal as the basic resource path, so it remains easy to set up once the required production chain is available. It can be manufactured on site by smelting Coal into Energetic Graphite and then into Diamond, and Kimberlite Ore can also be used as an alternative input path. It can also be upgraded from lower-tier proliferator by combining two units of the lower level with another component.

In practice, Mk.II is most useful where the extra output or speed bonus pays for the added power draw. It is a poor choice if the only goal is to turn raw Coal directly into spray, since the Diamond in the recipe does not meaningfully add spray value on its own. However, it can still be efficient when applied to coal-based production lines, because the extra products from sprayed inputs can offset the spray cost.

• A fully sprayed item can provide 24 uses of Mk.II.
• It grants +20.0% extra products or +50.0% production speedup.
• It increases energy consumption by 70.0%.
• When all raw materials in a recipe have Proliferator points, the recipe can receive the extra products or speedup effect.
• Because Mk.II is unlocked when power is often still tight, it is usually best reserved for power fuel production or for production lines where the additional power demand is acceptable.
• It can technically be used as fuel, but its efficiency is poor, so it is not a practical fuel source except as an emergency backup.