Refinery
The Refinery is the Relay Network Bay that turns items into Salvage. Salvage pays for almost everything else in the Network, so the Refinery is the Network's engine.
| Takes in | A committed basket of items |
|---|---|
| Produces | Salvage, claimed from the Refinery's output buffer |
| Also hosts | Transmutation |
| Affected by | Heat and operating mode, Relay Research, Bay Upgrades |
Committing items
Build a deposit basket and commit it. Salvage then drips out at a steady rate until the basket is used up. You can withdraw committed items you no longer want to refine.
- Rate is flat. Which items you commit does not change how fast Salvage comes out. It changes how long the basket lasts.
- Item role matters. Items are grouped by role, and each role drains your basket at a different speed:
| Role | What counts | Basket drain |
|---|---|---|
| Crafted | Items with a recipe | Missing game reference: relayRefineryDrainCrafted |
| Consumable | Pet food items | Missing game reference: relayRefineryDrainConsumable |
| Raw | Items that cannot be crafted | Missing game reference: relayRefineryDrainRaw |
- Crafted items give the most Salvage for their value. The Raw, Crafted and Consumable Efficiency Research nodes reduce the drain for their role.
- Expensive items last longer. A pricier item refines for longer per unit, so one valuable crafted item produces far more Salvage than a pile of cheap materials.
- Not everything can be refined. Rare drops, lootboxes, items with boost effects and items marked as Relay-restricted cannot be committed.
- Longer baskets. Higher Module levels let a basket run longer before it needs refilling.
Output buffer
Unclaimed Salvage collects in the Refinery's output buffer, which has a cap. Raise it with the Capacity Foundations Research node and the Refinery Output Capacity upgrade.
When the buffer is full, the Refinery keeps using up items by default and the extra Salvage is lost. The Overflow Cutoff Research node pauses the basket when the buffer is full and resumes it after you claim. Auto-Deposit Research can keep the basket topped up.
Modules and output
Output grows with Module count, Module level and the operating mode. Each extra Module adds a little less than the one before (the highest-level Module always counts in full), so a very large Refinery reaches a soft ceiling instead of growing forever. An idle or stalled Refinery cools down twice as fast.
Overdrive
The Overdrive upgrade makes the Refinery burn through item value much faster. Each tier doubles the item value consumed per hour, while Salvage output rises only slightly, and heat rises 10% per tier. It suits players chasing the Refined leaderboards rather than Salvage efficiency.
Top refiners
The daily and weekly Refined leaderboards rank players by the BC value of items fed into their Refinery. At each daily reset the top players receive DX Coolant, plus a Salvage draw. At each weekly reset the top three receive XenoServers.