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Research

Research is the process of improving a blueprint original (BPO) so that it is easier, cheaper, and quicker to manufacture using it.


How do I get a BPO?

You can purchase some of them in the market, though you may need to travel to certain regions to get certain one. Some can be purchased in loyalty point stores. Some are rewards at the end of some complexes. You can also buy them off of escrow, or visit the blueprint trading channel.

Tech 2 BPOs are obtained through the BPO lottery, though GC13 informed me that this may no longer be happening. More on this if I ever find out.


How can a BPO improve?

You can increase the Material Level of the blueprint, to reduce the amount of materials needed to make the item, and increase the Productivity Level of the blueprint, to reduce the amount of time needed to make the item.

Material Level: For each run of material research, you increase the material level of the BPO by 1. Each level decreases the amount of waste, thereby decreasing the amount of material you need to make the item. However, each level reduces that amount less and less. To make the "perfect" BPO (meaning, the material level at which doing more research will not benefit you at all), find the mineral you need the most of, take its number, and divide by 5 and round down -- that's the number of runs to do at max. For example, if something takes 433 tritanium, 433/5=86.6 --> 86 runs.

Productivity Level: This works pretty much the same as Material Level research, with the same results, except that it's affecting the time it takes to produce the item. While most people neglect this research, some work on it may very well help the manufacturer, since it won't take as much time for him to produce the item.


How else can I improve blueprint efficiency

The Industry skill reduces manufacturing time, and the Production Efficiency skill reduces material cost.


How do I do this research?

The steps to do both types of research are essentially the same. Right-click on the blueprint and choose the type of research you want to do. A window will open for your job, and you'll need to click the Pick Installation button. This shows you the available installations for that type of research at the station you're in -- if there are none, you will need to adjust the dropdown at the top of the window to show installations in the current solar system or region (and therefore, if you find an installation you want, you may need to fly the blueprint there).

When you find an installation you want and have the blueprint there, select an available installation. Then, choose the number of runs you want to do (each run raises the material or productivity level by 1). When you confirm, the system will calculate the time and cost, and you need to confirm once more to start the research.

One thing you will notice is that, at least in Empire space, there are never any free installations for material research, because everyone is doing it. Your only hope is to find an installation with a short wait time (the best I've seen so far in my region is 17 days) and queue your research to begin after that.


Now I have my improved blueprint. What can I do with it?

Well, first, you can use it to manufacture items. A BPO can create an unlimited number of items, so you're not using it up as you manufacture with it.

You can also create copies, called blueprint copies (BPC), of it. You do this by selecting the Copy Blueprint command from the BPO's right-click menu, and following a process similar to that of research. In the case of blueprint copying, though, the "runs" value determines how many times the BPC can be used to make an item before it is destroyed -- this is referred to as "licensed runs." Thus, only the BPO has the ability to make unlimited items; a BPC only creates a pre-determined number of items.

BPCs allow you to let your friends make items without you having to give them the valuable BPO. The BPC can also be used to invent new items, which is explained in the next post.


Ok, that was cool, but it's way too much work. Is there anything I can do to manufacture cheaply without going through all this research stuff?

You can try to buy researched BPOs from other players, though you should expect them to be somewhat expensive. Also be careful of players you try to sell you BPCs (with limited runs), trying to pass them off as BPOs.

Many corporations also keep a library of researched BPOs. If your corporation is one of these, you can use their BPOs to manufacture.

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