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[Hulkninja]

Hi there, I've been playing Starsector for several days on end now, and currently have 5 AI-controlled colonies with defenses more than capable of utterly annihilating every expedition thrown at me thus far.

However, I have yet to find a planet with a good number of volatiles that isn't class 1 or 2, and most of them only have the +/-0 modifier.

What planets are the best for volatile production? Should I just bite the bullet and settle for a class 1 gas giant with high hazard, but a +1/+2 volatile modifier?
Should I am for a frozen planet  with lower hazard rating (I have "planetary lamps" to counter darkness and cold, but they require substantial amounts of volatiles themselves) that has a volatile resource?
Or are ice giants the way to go?

Once I get a good supply of volatiles, I'm pretty much set to dominate the entire sector.
I've already begun raiding and bombing luddic path planets in the (possibly misguided) hope of eradicating them, and by extension their pesky terrorist cells on my otherwise pristine, class IV and V colonies.
After that, I think I'll begin fighting the Hegemony, as their "surprise inspections" are the only other major threat to my Alpha Core-based sector-wide dominance.

Thanks for any tips and suggestions! Hope you're all having as much fun as I am with this amazing game!

[Candesce]

What planets are the best for volatile production? Should I just bite the bullet and settle for a class 1 gas giant with high hazard, but a +1/+2 volatile modifier?

There's a colony item that boosts volatile production; it only works on gas giants. And low-ish hazard gas giants exist.

If you don't care about that, Tundra Worlds are habitable and can have volatiles.

[Serenitis]

If you want to run a fuel plant, you will need a +2 volatile deposit by default.
You can reduce this the following ways:

• Industrial Planning skill - reduce requirement by -1
• Any AI core in fuel prod. - reduce requirement by -1
• Alpha core in mining - reduce requirement by -1
• Use 2x story point on mining - reduce requirement by -1

This is all cumulative.
So if you take the IP skill alone, you can run fuel production with a +1 deposit.
IP + story points takes you down to +/-0
If you combine any 3 of the above, you can use any volatiles.

Gas Giants are special - they are the most reliable place for volatiles.
They always have some volatiles, and have a good chance to have the most (+2).
They are also the only place you can use something you can find to increase volatiles by a further +3. (This is the only way to fully use another thing that can be found.)

If you don't want to use a Giant, both Cryovolcanic and Icy worlds can get the maximum amount of volatiles.
Toxic worlds also have a small chance to generate good volatiles deposits.

Also, the 'class' of a planet is largely irrelevant.
All it is is an aggregation of how many different conditions the planet has and at what level.
You can see class V planets that are hellish balls of lava just because they have lots of minerals and some other stuff.
Don't worry about 'class'.

If you don't care about that, Tundra Worlds are habitable and can have volatiles.

Every type of habitable planet (except Desert) can have volatiles.
You don't want volatiles on hab worlds though - it stops you from using something that you'll want to use.

[Hulkninja]

Thanks for the info! I'll check if I have a +2 gas giant near any of the other systems I've colonized, and go from there!
I've already got the +3 item. Was just holding off on colonizing a gas giant due to them always being class I, but if that doesn't matter, I'm gonna go ahead with it!

[Igncom1]

Yeah honestly the resources they produce is almost more important than the planets habitability. Half of the core worlds live in dome cities on uninhabitable worlds. Breathable air is a luxury it seems.

[Thaago]

And if you already have lots of other colonies up, you are almost certainly already providing most of the other goods a colony needs in faction, which reduces maintenance costs by up to 50%. With that in place the hazard rating of planets matters a lot less.