Speed Tier List

Why speed is a multiplier, not a foundation

Speed shortens travel and handling time between mining and depositing. It does not raise ore per swing or hold size. That makes speed a multiplier on trip frequency: valuable only when each trip already carries meaningful ore.

Speed is rarely the first S-tier upgrade because empty-fast trips earn nothing. New players who max speed early often wonder why income feels unchanged — they optimized the wrong pipeline segment.

S-tier speed scenarios

Speed becomes S-tier when mining and cargo are healthy but drones spend most of each cycle in transit or queueing at the deposit point. Watch for long gaps where lasers are off and holds are full — that is speed territory.

Speed is S-tier with large fleets. Five drones each saving a few seconds per trip compounds into major hourly gains because cycle count scales with drone count.

Speed is S-tier before planned active farming sessions where you will sit online amplifying cycles. Faster loops mean more manual burst income during events or code-boosted play.

• Transit dominates cycle time
• Large drone count multiplies time savings
• Active farming sessions ahead

Mid and late game speed tiers

Mid game: Speed rises to A-tier once cargo upgrades produce full holds reliably. Pair speed purchases with cargo so you are multiplying real value, not air.

Late game: Speed alternates S-tier with cargo depending on which stat lags after evolution. After major planet upgrades, re-time one full cycle. If holds fill quickly and lasers finish fast but payouts per hour plateau, speed is likely your S-tier again.

B-tier traps and D-tier mistakes

Speed is B-tier early with one drone and weak mining. Fix extraction and haul size first unless you measured transit as the majority of cycle time even at low stats.

Speed is C-tier as a substitute for cargo. Racing with empty holds completes cycles faster without raising trip value.

Speed is D-tier when ignoring offline planning entirely. Offline income still depends on completed cycles; speed helps, but only if mining and cargo produce worthwhile payloads per cycle.

Balancing speed with offline play

Before logging off, run a quick cycle audit. If trips are already short relative to mining, further speed yields diminishing returns versus cargo for offline lump sums.

Active players benefit more from speed than purely casual offline players because speed shines when you chain sessions and codes during peak efficiency windows.

Document your average cycle time before and after speed purchases. If hourly income does not move, your bottleneck was elsewhere — revert priority to mining or cargo.

Speed upgrades also help when you expand drone count — each additional unit adds another transit loop that fleet-wide speed shaves down simultaneously.