Probably Stolen Chips and Goods: Base Values and Print Jobs

What does a printer chip actually do?

A chip is the job file the 3D Printer reads. It decides the base batch, the materials and the work; it does not decide quality, which comes from the ingot grade and your Quality total. The chip itself is not consumed by a job, so one purchase keeps running the same job for as long as you can feed it materials and power.

The table lists every printer chip with the job it selects, its base batch, its work cost, the materials consumed per batch and the chip’s own base value. Work is progress, not time: at base speed the printer gets through 24 work a night, so 36 work is two nights and 120 work is five. A dash under Extra module means the job needs no specialist module; every metal chip needs a Metal Printer Module, and the frames and Gun Parts need the CNC Module as well. Batch is what one run gives, and it is fixed for every chip except Gun Parts, which follows the ingot grade and steps 2 / 3 / 3 / 4 / 4 / 5 from Very Low to Perfect; the 3 listed here is what a Fair ingot yields.

3D Printer chips by job, batch, work and base value

Chip	Job	Batch	Work	Nights	Materials per batch	Extra module	Chip value	Source
.22 Pistol 3D Printer Chip	Liberator pistol	1	50	3	2 filament	—	250	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x2 .22 Pistol)	Liberator pistol	2	60	3	3 filament	—	400	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x2 .22 Magazine)	.22 Magazine	2	24	1	1 filament	—	250	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x2 Ext. .22 Mag.)	Extended .22 Magazine	2	48	2	3 filament	—	350	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x2 High Cap. .22 Mag.)	High Capacity .22 Magazine	2	36	2	2 filament	—	300	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x2 10MM Magazine)	10mm Magazine	2	36	2	3 scrap	Metal Printer Module	300	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x1 High Cap. 10MM Mag.)	High Capacity 10mm Magazine	1	48	2	2 scrap	Metal Printer Module	350	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x1 Ext. 10MM Mag.)	Extended 10mm Magazine	1	60	3	3 scrap	Metal Printer Module	400	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x4 Makeshift RDS)	Makeshift Red Dot Sight	4	20	1	1 filament + 1 common electronics	—	200	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x2 RDS)	Red Dot Sight	2	24	1	3 scrap + 1 common electronics	—	300	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x4 Toy Laser Pointer)	Toy Laser Pointer	4	20	1	1 filament + 1 common electronics	—	200	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x2 Laser Sight)	Laser Sight	2	24	1	2 scrap + 1 common electronics	—	300	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x2 Silencer)	Suppressor	2	24	1	5 scrap	—	300	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x3 Box Cutter)	Box Cutter	3	34	2	2 scrap + 1 filament	—	150	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x4 Kitchen Knife)	Kitchen Knife	4	64	3	3 scrap + 1 filament	—	200	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x4 Hatchet)	Hatchet	4	75	4	4 scrap + 1 filament	—	250	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x4 Meat Cleaver)	Meat Cleaver	4	82	4	5 scrap + 2 filament	—	300	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x5 Combat Knife)	Combat Knife	5	98	5	2 metal ingots	Metal Printer Module	380	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x3 Combat Machete)	Combat Machete	3	120	5	3 metal ingots	Metal Printer Module	480	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x4 Improved Internal Springs)	Improved Internal Springs	4	20	1	2 scrap	—	150	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Gun Part 3D Printer Chip	Gun Parts	3	30	2	1 metal ingot	Metal Printer Module + CNC Module	—	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Nestfire Compact Frame 3D Printer Chip	Nestfire Compact Frame	1	60	3	1 metal ingot	Metal Printer Module + CNC Module	—	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Ironcraft 10 Frame 3D Printer Chip	Ironcraft 10 Frame	1	70	3	1 metal ingot + 1 scrap	Metal Printer Module + CNC Module	—	Game data (1.0.0.2)
3D Printer Chip (x6 Small Plastic Bottle)	Small Plastic Bottle	6	10	1	1 filament	—	100	Game data (1.0.0.2)

Why can the same chip take a different number of nights?

Because the work figure is fixed and your speed is not. A Performance total in the printer’s bay adds work per night: the Combat Machete chip needs 120 work, which is five nights at base speed and four once the bay adds 25% Performance, which two 16% modules clear. A Computer Numerical Control Module moves the other way, taking 25% off speed for 25% more power, and every frame and Gun Parts job needs one: a 60-work frame that takes three nights at base speed needs four with the CNC fitted. The percentages and the fractional Quality rule are on the module table, and the machine’s 8 kJ draw is on the machine table.

The recipes and items table breaks the same jobs down per finished item and lists the materials each batch consumes.

Which chips pay back fastest?

The chip value is paid once; what repeats is the batch. Using base values only, a batch of three Combat Machetes is 555 credits of blades from 150 credits of ingots, so 405 credits per batch against a 480-credit chip. That chip is covered by the second batch and earns 81 credits a night over five nights.

The Extended 10 mm Magazine chip is the opposite case. Its three scrap are 30 credits, so a 50-credit magazine nets 20 credits a batch; the 400-credit chip therefore needs twenty batches, about 7 credits a night over the three nights each batch takes. Three comparisons worth carrying into the shop:

• The double pistol chip costs 400 against 250 for the single, but three filament and 60 work become two pistols: 44 credits net per batch and a payback of ten batches, against 16 credits and sixteen batches for the single.
• The four scrap melee chips sit between 150 and 300 credits; the metal ones cost 380 and 480. A Melee Batch module adds one more blade per job, so the net per batch grows without buying another chip.
• The six-bottle chip is the cheapest in the catalogue: 100 credits turns one filament into six empty bottles, about 12 credits net a night, but those bottles are containers — fill and treat them before they are worth selling.

Chip prices run from 100 to 480 credits and each one is paid once, so buy the chip for the job you can feed rather than the job with the best looking price. Every figure here is a base value, not the offer a buyer accepts; making money covers the gap between the two.

What do desequencer chips do?

These chips are not blueprints. Each one is a Contraband module that fits the Cryptographic Desequencer (350 credits, 9 cells) and writes one department’s permission onto a blank keycard. The chip stays installed after the job, so one purchase keeps producing that department’s cards as long as you supply blank cards and power.

Desequencer chips and the keycards they write

Chip	Writes	Consumed	Card value	Chip value	Notes	Source
Cryptographic Desequencer Chip (Command)	Disposable Keycard (Command)	1 blank access card	125	350	Stays installed; one blank card becomes one keycard	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Cryptographic Desequencer Chip (Engineering)	Disposable Keycard (Engineering)	1 blank access card	75	250	Stays installed; one blank card becomes one keycard	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Cryptographic Desequencer Chip (Medical)	Disposable Keycard (Medical)	1 blank access card	75	250	Stays installed; one blank card becomes one keycard	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Cryptographic Desequencer Chip (Security)	Disposable Keycard (Security)	1 blank access card	100	300	Stays installed; one blank card becomes one keycard	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Cryptographic Desequencer Chip (Service)	Disposable Keycard (Service)	1 blank access card	40	200	Stays installed; one blank card becomes one keycard	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Cryptographic Desequencer Chip (Supply)	Disposable Keycard (Supply)	1 blank access card	40	200	Stays installed; one blank card becomes one keycard	Game data (1.0.0.2)

Read the two value columns together, and remember that every card also consumes a 15-credit blank. The break-even count differs by department: a 125-credit Command card against a 350-credit chip takes four cards, an Engineering or Medical chip at 250 takes five, and the 200-credit Service and Supply chips making 40-credit cards take eight.

What are the common goods worth?

The materials a chip consumes have their own base values, and the gap between an input and the item it becomes is where a shopkeeper makes or loses credits.

Material base values and the jobs that consume them

Item	Base value	Feeds	Per batch	Source
3D Printing Filament	12	Every plastic job in the printer	1 to 3 per batch	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Scrap Metal	10	10 mm magazines, blades, sights, silencers and springs	1 to 5 per batch	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Electronic Parts (Common)	33	Sights and laser jobs	1 per sight batch	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Metal Ingot	50	Combat blades, frames and Gun Parts	1 to 3 per batch	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Metal Ore	15	Furnace input that smelts into ingots	Furnace charges 1 or 2	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Disposable Keycard (Blank)	15	Desequencer input, one per keycard	1 per card	Game data (1.0.0.2)

Two of these relationships matter more than the rest. Metal Ore at 15 is the richer Furnace charge: two ore are 30 credits and come out as a High-purity ingot worth 25% over the 50-credit base, while the scrap route is the cheap one, 20 credits of scrap into a Low-purity ingot worth 15% less than base. Electronic Parts at 33 is the most expensive input per unit. A Makeshift Red Dot Sight batch turns 45 credits of materials into 100 credits of sights in one night and covers its 200-credit chip in four nights. The gunsmith guide covers which chips need the metal line and which run on filament alone.