X4: Foundations – Maximize Your Station Profits

Are you new to the game with stations that aren’t generating any profit? Check out these simple tips to help you increase your earnings!

Step One: Getting Blueprints

At first, you need to get some blueprints for your station to work.

You require:

• Storage Modules, preferably Large.
• Habitats or Bioms for workers to live in.
• At least one docking module.
• Connection modules, like a cross that goes upwards, as most production modules require these.
• Production Modules, duh.

You can get these blueprints for free when you have completed the according “Research” and flew around the station modules in Scan-Mode waiting and hoping for the data leaks.

It’s not as rare as you think and I can highly recommend this as this can save you over 100 million credits.

Step Two: Building and Setting It Up

General Tips

• Always assign a Manager, at least one trading ship.
• If basic resources are required, assign at least one miner.
• Assigning ships will reduce your buying cost by a large sum, therefore maximizing your profits.
• Have the ships already stationed in the sector before assigning them (due to bugs not getting them to work properly).
• Go to your player info menu and then to the “Credit”-Symbol, where you see your station funds. 
• The station funds “recommended” when hovering over the station name are what the station needs to fill their containers and storage. Fund the station generously to get it going as they buy food and materials. 
• Always add Energy Cell Production (Solar panels). Expensive at first, but cost effective. 
• Click on the station on the map: See whether the storage is full – then add more and see whether one of the three different types is full. 
• Click on the station on the map: See whether there are enough habitats for your workers. The “most efficient amount” of those workers will be reached eventually when enough food is available. 
• It’s effective to place the building slot and station either where there already is a lot of traffic or directly near the hyperspace routes.
• Add turrets for defense – simply edit the module.

Food Production

• Watch out as every race requires a different type of food.
• Food produced will also supply your workers, so choose the habitats together with your food production.
• Where there are many station of a certain race, there will be a lot of need for food – therefore, choose a location close to many stations and lots of (already existing) traffic.
• Often requires water and ice, but supply shouldn’t cost you much.

Raw Production and Refined Material

• Requires Resource Sites.
• Resource Sites refill when being used up, so don’t worry about that.
• Check Site with Resource Probes.
• Place close or even in the resource site for easy extraction of materials.
• Your own miners fill your storage for free. This reduces your material costs to almost zero.

Most Importantly!

Don’t focus on just one product – create a complete production line instead! Rather than just exporting Silicon or Ore, process these materials further. Turn your refined silicon into Microchips, and even advance to creating Nano technology.

Products like Nanotronics, Refined Silicon, Fuel, and Food bring in much higher profits when you control the entire production chain starting from the basic raw materials.