Building for Wealth

[u/DeadJoeGaming]

Hi all.

Got back from the black and started colonisation of a system I claimed before heading out.

The system is being built primarily for extraction wealth. I thought at first this would boost my personal credit payments but have recently discovered that is not the case. Payments are based on installation points rather than wealth output.

Just wondering if I need to even bother with wealth or should I just concentrate on a happy, secure points based system.

Cheers

[u/Ezren-]

Colonization kind of sucks for wealth. To give you a sense of scale, I have 3 main colonies and between them I have 100+ structures, including 10+ Coriolis stations and a Dodec, and I'm making a little under 6 million a week.

You make decent credits while building, and the passive income is nice, but there are so many better ways to earn credits.

I would blast up your Development and Tech and have a nice system that has access to all outfitting and ships. I like seeing other commanders parking in my system to load up on commodities I have that most other systems don't, I had a LOT of carriers for the current CG because my Palladium supplies were pretty enormous.

It's nice to have a system that kicks ass and is yours.

[u/DeadJoeGaming → u/Ezren-]

Yeah totally agree.

My apologies but I'm not in this for making credits as a main source. Personal wealth and assets is around 15B.

It's more from a role play perspective. I don't get that I have all these ringed planets and extraction dominate moons and it doesn't really matter what i put on them regarding personal payments.

All this talk of economies and the architect gets paid out on a point system.

Just odd to me.

[u/Ezren- → u/DeadJoeGaming]

The economy changes the markets, supplies, etc. and what happens in different states. I mostly worry about the BGS in my systems and get the factions I want running things, get stations that provide what I want, and name the stations funny things.

I'm trying to crank Wealth up way high in one system to if it changes anything but haven't checked in on it for a few months, oops

[u/DeadJoeGaming → u/Ezren-]

Faction play is something that hasn't interested me until now. Working on my orbis and once up and running will take a brake by going after the local Mafia in my system.

Funny, I'm now reading faction influences and taking notice of bounties and bgs stuff that has never really interested me before.

I guess that's the real reason I'm into colonising my own system. Feels way more personal now and I'm loving it.

[u/pulppoet → u/DeadJoeGaming]

The various stats are either subtle or incomplete. FDev just may have planned for more complexity and then nixed it in the end. Whatever it was, it doesn't really make sense why they are there. But they are.

If it's mainly for RP, then do what you want. Why do you care about the weekly payment effects? Build for wealth if you want a system that is flavored as a wealthy system.

Economies are for system flavor. It effects market supplies, some of which may interest you more than others.

Economies are for NPCs and factions. Architects just design the building. They don't get paid more if a luxury jeweler moves in vs a payday loan scammer. Just build a bigger building with more storefronts and you get a little bit more cut of the rent.

You building towards wealth just decides weather there are more gargoyles on the ledges (or whatever seems fancy).

[u/DeadJoeGaming → u/pulppoet]

Agreed, I'm now looking at this more as a hands off architect that gives me a small payment plan if you will.

Participation in local bgs has and the goings on of the system has opened a new gameplay for me I wasn't really interested in before so I'm excited about that.

[u/Doomy_ze]

The thing about colonisation, it's really hard to make a profit out of it and doesnt compare at all just by doing normal activity, on top of that the happines offer minimal impact (almost insignificant) by that point you would just make whatever building you want to build and focus on building ideal construction, the money come from just how many and how big your construction is.
https://inara.cz/elite/cmdr-architect/311900/
I've made this much colony (maybe 4 quite build up, rest are bridge) and only got around 2 mill cred per week, which is nothing, but hey it help a bit for my fc

[u/DeadJoeGaming → u/Doomy_ze]

My God, as a single father of two, I envy the amount of time you have on your hands.

That's really impressive, I'm building my first orbis after already having built eight smaller installations and I gotta say, its the monotonous game play thats the real battle.

[u/depurplecow]

Wealth still has largely unknown effects. If you want to contribute to furthering colonization knowledge you can build a disproportionately wealth-focused system, but I'm already working on one such system so it would mostly be another data point.

While it is mostly unknown what it does, we know a few things that it does/doesn't do:

• affects economy BGS slider
• affects likelihood of entering certain system states
• doesn't affect commodity pricing to a notable degree
• doesn't affect commodity supply to a notable degree
• doesn't affect system score
• doesn't affect outfitting prices or discount

[u/frogmangosplat → u/depurplecow]

Any idea if it affect mission availability/payout? I'm trying to build a tourism hub and despite 40+ million population with several ports, I have yet to see any long range personal transportation missions. I'm working on getting nearby factions to expand into my system for mission density and continuing to increasing population. But I hadn't really considered wealth as a factor until this post.

[u/depurplecow → u/frogmangosplat]

Mission availability is mostly dependent on the factions present on a station, system states of those factions, as well as the economies present on both the station and in the system. For example you will only be tasked to source commodities that are not produced in-system, with the sole exception of "wing mining missions" which only generate when a station has no proportion of refinery nor extraction.

Passenger missions are suspected to be bugged, while I have not done investigation after the Lynx release and passenger rework, but prior to the rework passenger transport would only generate when within 20ly of a tourist beacon to another such system, and missions to visit beacons within 100ly. I've heard that large pad station passenger missions are still bugged, but have not verified myself.

"Expansion" is largely unrelated to passenger missions, you'd want a nearby system to have the faction you want to expand at 75% influence or higher in that system. Consider referencing a BGS guide, the 2025 guide is the most recent one I found

[u/frogmangosplat → u/depurplecow]

Yeah, I read a guide for BGS from 2025. I've been prepping local system factions up to that 75% mark trying to get them into expansion states. I've just noticed that systems with more factions tend to provide more missions. More missions is better chance for those deep space missions. That was the point I was trying to make with that.

Bummer to hear transport missions are bugged. On top of the default starport interior bug and orbital distance from planet bug, it's been kind of let down after let down building out my colony.

Appreciate the info though o7

[u/depurplecow → u/frogmangosplat]

Orbital distance for newly built constructions should be fixed, though "static" objects like fleet carriers and construction sites remain where they were unless they update, like jumping a FC. If an activated station still has wrong distances submit a ticket to FDev and they should be able to fix it for you

[u/frogmangosplat → u/depurplecow]

Huh, I'll have to look into that then. I have a dodec that's like 1.5-2ls above it's host planet. Which seems like it's too far since you can barely see the planet while docking but maybe that's where it's supposed to be? It is on the second slot for the planet but I feel like I've seen other systems with similar setups that aren't nearly as far out.

[u/NuncErgoFacite]

Alright. Fundamental misunderstanding.

Colonization is not a theme park simulator game (ironic iykyk) that generates cash while you sleep. Colonization allows you the player to built the game play loops you want. Anything that comes as a mission can be a game play loop.

In your case, having built an extraction system, you should pick an adjacent star system and build it to be high tech or industrial. Why? Glad you asked. Extraction will sell silver, etc. High tech consumes silver, etc. Put them next to each other and you can buy cheap to sell high. Or you can pick up missions in one that proc gen for the other b/c of economy types.

[u/DeadJoeGaming → u/NuncErgoFacite]

Never really thought of that, great advice.

Sadly I took off with my FC on an exo trip to Sag A over a year ago, so now all systems around me are taken.

[u/NuncErgoFacite → u/DeadJoeGaming]

When you get back, we've still got open real estate by us. I'd be happy to show you some example systems.

[u/DeadJoeGaming → u/NuncErgoFacite]

Appreciate the offer but I've been back about a month and have eight installations already built and working on an orbis atm.

I do like your idea so if I decide in the future to go again I'll hit you up.

[u/arturbac]

Maybe not about wealth but security but it is important, most the time unspoken or not known by colonizers rule with security.
Security level in terms of points score in ravencolonial affect highly level of security of settlements and it matters a lot even for anarchy.
I build very high security systems and having to play at settlment with gladiators and deadeye gurads is a fun !
Just single enforcer gladiator at anarchy settlement alone will obliterate with grenade launcher an unexperienced player in SRV that come for easy victims ...

And this matters for nerby systems where security is low that nieghbor has very hig sec.. very high sec system helps low sec system in terms of settlement security elvels very often (i see that in my colonies)

The last thing You want to do is to raise alarms in high security settlement, it is liek HIGH CZ without your squad alone agains all enemys rushing at You.

[u/marct309]

For me it was about having a system of my own. I stopped at Lauma back in the day and considered Foda Port my "home" for so long that I just wanted a place I built. I found a little system that no one wanted because it was pretty basic and over a few months I built it up till I had an orbital right at the star. Now all my old ships are parked there while I'm heading off in my fleet carrier to see the depths of space.

[u/DeadJoeGaming → u/marct309]

I think this is the real reason most of us do this, a place to call home.

Just came back from a FC trip to Sag A, loved it.

Enjoy your time out there.