Duke's New R&D Guide

[XDTM]

Since nobody else is doing one, here's my guide; it's not perfectly efficient but it works pretty quickly. Any suggestions are welcome.

Start - Gather and scan these materials from the RnD room
-Analyzer
-Micro Manip
-Capacitor
-Welder
-Flamethrower ( with another welder; just screwdriver it then attach a rod )

Alternate Start (if you can't be assed to make a flamethrower/want to keep a welding tool just in case. I use this one now)
-Analyzer
-Micro Manip
-Capacitor
-Welder
-Meson Goggles
-Toolbox

Protolathe - We don't need circuits till a lot later, don't waste acid
-Mining Drill
-Nano Manip
-Mass Spectrometer
-Medical HUD
-Security HUD
-Super power cell
-Holographic sign projector
-Adv. Mass Spectrometer
-Adv. Release Grenade
-Welding Shield Eyes ---> Mat 5 -->Picos and Super Bins

With this you can make pico manips and super matter bins. Print an RPED, some picos and some super bins and upgrade your protolathe and circuit imprinter, greatly reducing the part cost. Do this before printing circuits or you'll waste acid!

For bluespace:
-Tracking Beacon
-GPS Device --> Blu 3 (Enough for Bluespace RPEDs)

Circuit Imprinter
-Power Turbine Board --->Power 5, Data 5 --> Required for chem dispenser board
-Teleporter Board
-Teleport. Station Board OR Quantum Pad board --->Bluespace 5, enough for femtos and bluesp. matter bins with material 7
-Chem dispenser board --->Plasma 5 (Needed for NV mesons)
-Durand weapon board --->Combat 5

Minerals/Mining (in the rare event that miners didn't die)
-Uranium --->Mat 6
-Diamond --->Mat 7
-2 Bluespace Crystals --->Bluespace 7
Just use one sheet of material to not waste too much of it!

Jetpack Upgrade --->Engineering 6 (You can just decon a piercing syringe for this one)
Lazarus Injector --->Electromag 7
Mining Drone AI upgrade --->Data 7

Advanced
Piercing Syringe --->Engineering 6
Phazon Torso --->Plasma 6 (Enough for BoHs if you have bluespace 7 too)
DNA syringe --->Engineering 7 with 6 powers (and no disabilites) (comic sans voice IS a disability)
Slime Power Cell --->Power 6
Drone Shell --->Bio 5
Heart/Brain --->Bio 6 (You can just butcher a monkey for both)
Sentience Potion --->Bio 7
'Purge' AI Board ---> Data 6

Cargo
Combat Shotguns --->Combat 7
Prototype --->Engineering 7

Botany
Golden Apple --->Mat 6
Glowberry/shrooms --->Plasma 7
Glowcap --->Power 7
Bluespace Banana/Tomato --->Bluespace 6
Blood Tomato --->Bio 6
Death Nettle --->Combat 6
Gatfruit --->Combat 7 (actually needs to be made by xeno first)
Ghost Chili --->Magnets 6
Walking Mushroom --->Data 6
Ambrosia Gaia --->Bio 7

Remember that with only a bit of silver you can build an autocloner thanks to phasic scanners and a bluespace RPED; if you're a miner reading this guide please deliver the two pieces that you see near the mining dock before leaving to mine!

When getting some high level parts (like anomaly cores) it will bring the tech to the item level (not item level+1) so, if possible, try to get to the item's level first, but it's acceptable to consume an anomaly since it'll usually land you on the max.

[InsaneHyena]

High energy guide. Duke can finally rest while some other people do RnD for a change.

[Knaive]

Always bet on Duke

[Steelpoint]

Why does RnD rely so heavily on botany?

[InsaneHyena]

Why does RnD rely so heavily on botany?

Interdepartmental ''''cooperation''''

[Steelpoint]

Yeah that's fine but Botany is the last place I would ever think a Research department should rely on.

Both from a thematic and game play perspective.

Sure if we were a medievel style game like Lifeweb then I can see why intertwining herbs and botany with research would make sense since the tech level is on the lower side, but we're in the future with advance technology, I don't think future tech needs plants as a research base.

---

Looking at it its just stupid.

To reach the pinacle of military weaponry technology you need to research a nettle and a fruit? The height of computer data processing is from a mushroom? The latest advancements in harnessing the solid mineral Plasma comes from MORE mushrooms?

You what?

[onleavedontatme]

Remember that with only a bit of silver you can build an autocloner thanks to phasic scanners and a bluespace RPED

Why does nothing in rd cost anything?

[Xhagi]

Yeah that's fine but Botany is the last place I would ever think a Research department should rely on.

Both from a thematic and game play perspective.

Sure if we were a medievel style game like Lifeweb then I can see why intertwining herbs and botany with research would make sense since the tech level is on the lower side, but we're in the future with advance technology, I don't think future tech needs plants as a research base.

---

Looking at it its just stupid.

To reach the pinacle of military weaponry technology you need to research a nettle and a fruit? The height of computer data processing is from a mushroom? The latest advancements in harnessing the solid mineral Plasma comes from MORE mushrooms?

You what?

"B-but now RnD scientists have to leave the RnD room, it's g-great!"

The only time I've seen botany bring what was needed was if one of them knew what was needed, grew it, and brought it over. So that kinda got negated. It was more done to put a gate to RnD to keep from getting the best stuff as quickly as they could. Also the only thing botany might want from RnD, floral somatorays, can be obtained without the advanced levels, so there's really no reason for them to deliver on it.

[srifenbyxp]

I figure to get bio up ASAP have genetics make a few humans and give them to R&D/Robo to rip out brains for deconstruction. Replace said monkies from grey slimes, or will just plain monkey brains do the trick?

Also Prototype --->Engineering 7, whats a prototype? Never used/seen it before; been playing way too much overwatch and other games of late.

[DemonFiren]

Solution to botany drama: either ask them for a tray, or build one yourself.

[Wyzack]

Always bet on Duke

Rip chapter master, rip my hopes and dreams

[Lati]

That seems like a great guide, good work.

Info for others as well, the wiki page is almost up-to-date too. All required tech levels are updated and most origin tech levels are updated. There is also other new info about doing R&D so check it out.
https://tgstation13.org/wiki/Guide_to_R ... evelopment

[Zilenan91]

It's not botany's job to grow shit for you so you can build a gorillion guns. You gotta work to get a gorillion guns and gatling lasers.

[kevinz000]

Rnd is only gated on how hard people try to get godmode items.
If I really wanted to what's to stop me from mining doing botany and xenobio at the same time except for round time?

[Bob Dobbington]

It's Botany's job to grow whatever people want grown within reason and prioritizing urgent requests. This is how all departments that produce things should work. Other departments should request the plants they need/want from Botany, since it's impossible for the botanist to know what combination of people in Medbay/R&D/Cargo/Kitchen want which plants. I almost never get approached by scientists, so usually if R&D is getting max tier plants it's because I got bored and grew them anyway, and usually I have to harangue the guy doing R&D until he figures out to DA the plants. Botany's not hard to order from, we have a requests console (I think) and we're right smack in the middle of escape corridor. You can request plants with the console without opening your autistic safe space shutters even. If the problem is that you're used to not having to interact with other players to finish your tech trees, I haven't really got very much sympathy. Certainly the botanist has to interact with every chucklefuck that breaks the southwest corner window down and we don't get the benefit of unbreakable autism shutters.

[XDTM]

Tbh botany is only needed for a few high level items which will likely not see much use anyway, so it's not as if RnD is reliant on it; I'll remember to ask botany though if they're working on plants. They should probably come hassle RnD as well for a plant DNA extractor/tray upgrade, if it's as useful as i think.

[oranges]

quick time to change the meta again