Power Cells

Power cells are what gets the drillships from Boomtown to the mines. The Nautilus Corp. provides all the power cells needed for levels 1, 2, and 3, but it's up to the Prosponauts to get the drillships deeper. he number of cells needed to get to each level starts at 30 (for L4) and caps at 50 (L8).

To make a cell, purchase a Power Cell Order from the Uplink or a roving vendor, and use it in a fabricator. The orders come in single, 5-cell, and 10-cell sizes. Each cell requires 500g of Illite, 300g of Tyrite, and 200g of Kobalite.

Orders of every size cost 400 creds per cell to be made, but smaller orders complete much faster. If you need to get to a level in a hurry, it's better to make 20 single cell orders instead of two 10-cell orders.

Power cells can be turned in at any drillship network terminal (the large glowing globe used to travel to mining levels). Open the dialogue, select the currently powering level, and then the "Contribute Power Cells" button on the bottom right. You can contribute as little as a single cell on up to the max needed to open the level. You will receive 4,600 creds per donated cell.

If a level stops being powered, any donated cells are stored for that level until it powers up again. For example: L4 is active and someone donates 10 power cells to L5. If L4 collapses before L5 is powered, the cells do not transfer to L4, nor are they lost. Instead, they stay in the queue for L5, and when L5 comes back to be powered again, they'll be credited towards the level.

Due to the cost and difficulty of getting to lower levels, it's usually most effective to coordinate with your company (or several companies) or another group of players to do a "Level 8 (or 7) raid."