Mech Refabricator

The Moss Refabricator is a unit-refabricating building introduced in Build 136. It converts stored materials back into Moss-class units (such as Merui) by upgrading or refabricating existing units rather than constructing them from scratch. It integrates with the game's production chains similarly to other fabricators and refabricators and is used where recycling or upgrading units is required.

The Moss Refabricator has an internal storage buffer that holds twice the quantity of items required to produce a single unit; for standard Moss units this means it can store 100 Silicon and 80 Tungsten (the quantities needed for one unit). The building was adjusted in Build 149: its Tungsten build cost was increased from 120 to 175, and its build time was raised from 10 to 11.37 seconds.

Practical notes and usage considerations:

• The Moss Refabricator behaves like other unit fabricators/refabricators in that its output or upgrade throughput depends on available materials and the time required per unit. It can create brief bottlenecks if fed directly from fabricators producing new Moss units.
• Upgrading a Merui using the Moss Refabricator takes 45 seconds, which is slightly longer than the 40 seconds required for a Moss Fabricator to produce a new Merui. This time difference can cause temporary backlogs when converting freshly produced units into upgraded ones.
• For sustained continuous throughput without idle time, a production ratio of 8 Moss Fabricators to 9 Moss Refabricators is recommended. This ratio offsets the refabricator's longer per-unit time but requires significant input resources and space.
• Because the Refabricator stores two times the per-unit material requirement, it tolerates brief interruptions in supply and smooths minor input fluctuations; however, prolonged shortages will still halt refabrication.
• Position refabricators near storage veins and conveyor networks handling Silicon and Tungsten to minimize transport delays; consider buffering with containers to maintain steady input while upgrades complete.

Development history:

• Added in Build 136.
• In Build 149 its Tungsten cost was increased from 120 to 175 and its build time increased from 10 to 11.37 seconds.