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The campaign does predate factory plates.
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The campaign does predate factory plates.
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That being said, factory plates have the serious limitation that they can *only* apply buildpower to the unit on their plate. Even if we ignore the applications of buildpower other than making new units, a factory plate is not helpful at all in the (not uncommon) case that you need a particular expensive unit quickly - and in general it is preferable to have units actually complete and active rather than a bunch of half-complete nanoframes on plates.
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That being said, factory plates have the serious limitation that they can *only* apply buildpower to the unit on their plate. Even if we ignore the applications of buildpower other than making new units, a factory plate is not helpful at all in the (not uncommon) case that you need a particular expensive unit quickly - and in general it is preferable to have units actually complete and active rather than a bunch of half-complete nanoframes on plates.
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For that reason, while the precise verbiage in the campaign hints might need an update, I would be reluctant to update it to give a *strong* endorsement of factory plates over caretakers.
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For that reason, while the precise verbiage in the campaign hints might need an update, I would be reluctant to update it to give a *strong* endorsement of factory plates over caretakers.
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| 7 |
In practice, most experienced players use factory plates for a few specific reasons, and would use caretakers or mobile constructors otherwise:
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In practice, most experienced players use factory plates for a few specific reasons, and would use caretakers or mobile constructors otherwise:
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* To get access to a factory they do not already have.
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* To get access to a factory they do not already have.
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* To be able to build a few cheap units as needed without cancelling the expensive unit partially complete on their main factory.
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* To be able to build a few cheap units as needed without cancelling the expensive unit partially complete on their main factory.
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* To build many cheap units quickly, since the time required for units to move away from the factory limits the output of a single factory in this case.
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* To build many cheap units quickly, since the time required for units to move away from the factory limits the output of a single factory in this case.
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Only in the last (and rarest) case would more than one plate of a given type be required.
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Only in the last (and rarest) case would more than one plate of a given type be required.
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Game says caretaker is most efficient - what about plates?