Probably Stolen Modules: Quality, Performance and Efficiency

What do Performance, Efficiency and Quality change?

Every module in a bay adds to three totals, and the machine reads those totals once per job:

• Speed = base + base × Performance ÷ 100, so Performance shortens a job.
• Power = base − base × Efficiency ÷ 100, with a floor of 1 kJ. Negative Efficiency raises the draw.
• Quality raises the quality of what the machine produces, from ingot purity to water grade.

Universal modules fit any standard machine. A printer, furnace, alarm, farm, DNA, evaporator or chemistry machine also accepts its own module type, and the chemical machines take Chemical Equipment Modules only. Read the total shown in the bay rather than adding up modules by eye: the game rounds only at the end.

Universal modules: stats, value and bay space

Module	Effect	Value	Note	Source
Quality Module	+8% Quality to what the machine makes; speed and power unchanged	70	2 × 2 cells	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Performance Module	+16% Performance; speed = base + base × Performance ÷ 100	70	2 × 2 cells	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Efficiency Module	+16% Efficiency; power = base − base × Efficiency ÷ 100, never below 1 kJ	70	2 × 2 cells	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Eco Module	+32% Efficiency at −16% Performance	100	2 × 2 cells	Game data (1.0.0.2)

Why does the same percentage mean different things here?

Because each machine reads the total differently, the same +8% Quality module is worth 8 points on a purifier and 2 on a printer.

On a Furnace, one purity step costs 100 Quality, and a standard bay holds six 2×2 modules at best, which is +48. Stacking Quality alone will not raise an ingot’s purity, so a Flux Smelting Agent in the input is the cheaper route to a higher grade.

On a 3D Printer, Quality counts at a quarter: a Quality Module’s +8% reaches the machine as +2. The same module on a Water Purifier counts in full, but the purifier’s cap only steps at 100 and 200 Quality, so a lone +8% module (8 points) cannot reach the next step.

Efficiency is the reverse case. Sixteen percent of an 8 kJ print job is 1.28 kJ; sixteen percent of a 4 kJ purifier batch is 0.64 kJ. The same module is worth twice as much power on the machine with the larger draw, and the 1 kJ floor means a small machine can never be made free.

One 2 × 2 universal module on three different machines

Machine	Base	+16% Performance	+16% Efficiency	+8% Quality	Source
3D Printer	8 kJ, speed 24	+16% → +3.84 work per night	+16% → 6.72 kJ	+8% counted at a quarter → +2
Furnace	8 kJ per smelt	No effect on a single smelt	+16% → 6.72 kJ	One purity step per 100 Quality
Water Purifier	4 kJ	More contaminant removed per night	+16% → 3.36 kJ	Raises the cap; steps at 100 and 200 Quality

Which machines count a stat at a fraction?

Five machines discount part of the bay total, so a module fitted there is worth less than its printed number. Everything not listed here counts each stat in full.

Machines that apply a module total at a fraction

Machine	Performance	Efficiency	Quality	Source
3D Printer	Full	Full	×0.25
Mirage Projector	×0.25	Full	×0.5
DNA Manipulator	×0.5	Full	×0.5
Hydroponic System	×0.5	Full	×0.5
AgeWell	×0.5	×0.5	Full

The discount applies after the bay total is added up, so it cannot be worked around by spreading the same modules across more slots. On the Hydroponic System and the printer, plan for roughly double the Quality you would fit elsewhere.

Which special modules change a recipe?

These modules are not interchangeable upgrades. Each one unlocks a job, changes a batch or removes a restriction, and most of them pay for that by slowing the machine or raising its draw.

Recipe, batch and restriction modules

Module	Fits	Effect	Value	Note	Source
Metal Printer Module	3D Printer	Unlocks metal chips; raises power use by 50%	300	1 × 4 cells; required for 10mm magazines, frames, Gun Parts, Combat Knife and Combat Machete	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Computer Numerical Control Module	3D Printer	Unlocks frame and Gun Parts chips with the Metal Printer Module; −25% speed and +25% power	400	1 × 4 cells	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Melee Batch Module	3D Printer	+1 weapon on every melee print; halves speed and raises power use by 50%	250	1 × 4 cells; each further module adds another weapon	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Furnace Module (Blast)	Furnace	3 materials become 2 ingots one purity grade lower; double power use	150	1 × 4 cells; does not stack	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Furnace Module (Junk Processing)	Furnace	6 Junk become 4 Scrap Metal on nights the Furnace smelts no ingot	120	1 × 4 cells	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Chemical Equipment Module	Blender, Heating Plate, Chem Finisher	Blender loss 35% → 20/10/5/0%; Finisher contamination 12% → 6/3/1/0%; one module fixes the plate at 160 °C	250	2 × 2 cells; two or more allow 26 to 160 °C on the plate	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Evaporator Solvent Recovery Module	Evaporator	Recovers only solvent, at +50% quality and +25% power use	275	1 × 4 cells	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Genetic Stabilizer Module	DNA Manipulator	The donor seed survives extraction; −50% speed and +25% power	500	1 × 4 cells	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Hydroreed Filter Hydroponic Module	Hydroponic System	Each grown Hydroreed yields 1 Hydroreed Filter per module; +15% power use	105	1 × 4 cells; only affects Hydroreed	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Kotton Auto Loom Hydroponic Module	Hydroponic System	Kotton harvests arrive as fabric instead of fiber; −50% speed and double power use	200	1 × 4 cells; only affects Kotton	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Dream Cap Nightmare Hydroponic Module	Hydroponic System	Dream Cap grows as Nightmare Cap; does not stack	150	1 × 4 cells; only affects Dream Cap	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Alarm Transmitter Module	Alarm System	Names the faction the alarm alerts	100	A second transmitter sent to the same faction adds no effect	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Module Bay Expansion Kit	Standard machines only	Opens the next bay stage: 26 → 31 → 35 usable cells	150	Used up on installation; not for chemical or other special machines; adds 100 credits to machine value	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Blank Module	Rewritten by a suitable machine	Becomes a working module once rewritten	60	The resulting stat roll is random	Game data (1.0.0.2)
Corrupted Module	Repaired by hand with Electronic Parts (Common)	Becomes a Performance, Efficiency or Quality Module	45	Quality is the likeliest result; a module stuck in a bay needs an extractor	Game data (1.0.0.2)

Two of them decide whether a production line is viable at all. A Metal Printer Module is a standing cost of metal printing: every 10mm magazine, frame, Gun Parts and metal blade job needs it, and it adds 50% to the printer’s power draw. A Genetic Stabilizer Module is the difference between editing a bought seed and destroying your only copy of a trait.

How much bay space do you have?

A standard bay is a 7 × 5 grid, and the usable cells open in three stages. Special machines, including the chemical equipment, do not take the expansion kit at all.

Usable cells in a standard bay

Stage	Usable cells	Blocked cells	Source
Stage 1	26	Four corners and the middle plus shape
Stage 2	31	Four corners
Stage 3	35	Nothing

A Module Bay Expansion Kit opens the next stage and is used up, which matters when several machines compete for the same kit. A Module Extractor removes a module that will not come out on its own: the basic extractor has a limited number of uses, and the advanced one does not wear out.

Which module should you fit first?

Match the module to the constraint you actually have.

• Power-bound machines (Evaporator, DNA Manipulator, AgeWell) want Efficiency first. An AgeWell also counts Efficiency at half, so a 16% module saves 1.92 kJ of its 24 kJ draw.
• Throughput-bound machines (3D Printer, Furnace, Hydroponic System) want Performance only if the job is measured in work. A Furnace smelts once a night regardless, so Performance there changes nothing.
• Quality-bound machines (Furnace, Water Purifier, Hydroponic System) want Quality, but check the step: purity steps at 100 on a smelter, water caps step at 100 and 200 on a purifier.

The machine table lists each machine’s base draw and overnight rule, and power, batteries and machine modules covers charging a cell that can keep up. For the jobs these modules unlock, see gunsmith, chemistry and hydroponics.