Guide to xenobiology
Xenobiology is the breeding and harvesting of slimes and their extracts for scientific purposes. This all takes place in the xenobiology lab where you spawn, and is arguably more dangerous than making bombs if you don't know what you are doing. Which is a good reason to read this!
Home on the Range
As a Xenobiologist, you’re not going to get out that much until some late game slimes. And until you get those, you won't be bothered much either, at least in theory.
So lets get familiar with your new home.
The workplace in the center includes a couple of closets with bio-hazard suits, a monkey recycling machine, a slime processor, and an All-In-One Grinder with several sheets of plasma. Also included is a smartfridge modified to hold slime extracts within easy arm reach from the slime processor. There is also a wrench, which can unanchor all the machinery, so you can reorganize your workspace. To the western end is a disposal unit that leads to space and right of this is the bread and butter of your job: The Slime Console, which will be covered later.
To the south is the slime containment area with six pens. Two of these pens start with a baby grey slime.
To the north is a special containment pen that's larger and more secure than the rest. This is ideal for containing and experimenting on other alien lifeforms should the station manage to capture/produce one. Usually though, it's just for storing extra slimes.
Using the slime console
The Slime Console is a semi-new addition to the Xenobiology scene that makes your job roughly a hundred million times easier. With it you can move slimes, kill them, feed them, and process dead monkeys with mere clicks of a button! It's strongly advised grabbing the wrench next to the shield projectors and moving the fridge and slime processor within close range of the console you're using as to cut out a lot of unnecessary movement.
Safety Advice
Before you start breeding the slimes, make sure you have a fire extinguisher in your backpack. You'll rarely meet a ravenous, hungry slime if you're using the console, but it still happens and having an extinguisher could very well be the difference between a dead slime and a dead you.
If you aren't, then this goes doubly so as you'll be near a lot of slimes, usually before you cull their numbers, and while they're normally docile towards you whom are effectively their God, they occasionally grow resentful for their species' exploitation and try to kill you for no particular reason. In that case, kill the blasphemers with a clear conscience, DEUS VULT!
Now that monkeys have regained some sentience, they'll attack you if you try to manhandle them. It's strongly advised to just use the console to avoid any contact, but otherwise keep an extinguisher to bash riled up monkeys, or have a buddy to help you out if you get assaulted.
Breeding slimes
Feeding
Insert the monkey cubes from the boxes into the console. The console can now teleport monkeys directly inside the slime pens! Slimes need one monkey to become an adult and another to split.
- You can send both monkeys at once into a baby slime's pen, so you don't have to think about it until they split.
- Do NOT enter the pen and bash the monkey, the only thing that will happen is slime will get less food.
Once they're fed enough, after a while the adult slime will split in 4 baby slimes.
Culling
Time to kill your darlings.
Decide which baby slimes you don't want to keep and proceed to warp them up with the console. It can hold up to 5 slimes at a time. Teleport them onto the kill pen; it's the one with the blue floor, connected to a freezer. The sharp cold will kill the slimes quickly: when they stop moving, they're dead and you can pick them up for the next step.
Grinding
Collect the dead slimes from the freezer room, and drop them above the slime grinder. It will automatically suck in the slimes; when it's done, activate it to grind them. It will, after a while, drop a slime core of the respective color for each slime grinded.
- Upgrading the grinder will make it go faster and give more cores per slime.
- A Bio Bag from any biohazard locker can mass-collect slime cores and easily drop them into the fridge for easy access.
Resource Management
Monkey Cubes
Monkey cubes are the basic material that you'll need to do xenobiology; without those all you can do is sacrifice intruders ask for another department's monkeys. How do you gain more monkey cubes?
- You start with two monkey cube boxes containing 5 each, for a total of 10.
- Recycling a monkey with the console yields 0.2 monkey cubes.
- The Monkey Recycler is more efficient from the start, with a cube every 4 monkeys, but it needs to be fed manually, which can be counterproductive. It can be upgraded to yield even more monkeys.
- The main method you'll use, though, is the Grey Slime blood reaction: it will spawn three monkey cubes per core.
- With an unupgraded slime grinder a grey slime can give up to 9 cubes(keeping the last slime alive), which makes a profit of 7. Usually at least one will mutate, however.
- Upgrading a slime grinder to T3 parts, which can be achieved in a few minutes in R&D, can raise that amount to 27, for a profit of 25 every time a grey slime splits. Upgrades are important, make sure to get them early.
- Don't use too much blood on grey slimes, or you'll start feeling the effects of bloodloss. Usually 30-40 cubes will keep you going until the last tier.
- Remember that bio bags can store monkey cubes and load the console with them in two simple clicks, so don't waste time putting them in one by one.
Plasma
Plasma is the most common chemical required to react with slime extracts. You start with 2-4 bars depending on the map, which you can grind for 20 plasma each.
- You require a syringe to inject chems into cores, which forces you to inject at least 5u.
- You can get around this by diluting plasma with other chemicals, such as water or iron.
- Diluting with water incurs the risk of activating water-based reactions over plasma reactions.
- Some reactions fill the slime extract with chems: those reactions give an amount based on the amount of plasma inserted. You usually don't want to use watered down plasma on those, since on top of a reduced result, the diluting chemical will also "contaminate" the extract, diluting the result as well.
- There is instead no downside to all the reactions that don't result in chemicals. Be sure to use at least one full unit of plasma.
- You can get around this by diluting plasma with other chemicals, such as water or iron.
- You can produce new plasma yourself with either metal or plasma slimes. These will create respectively plasteel and plasma bars.
- Plasteel bars give 20 metal and 20 plasma each when ground, which means the result will be pre-diluted.
- Pure plasma gives 20 plasma per bar.
- Making these reactions requires some plasma to start with, so be careful not to run out before making more bars.
- In case you run out, you can either get more from mining, check if the extra plasma bar that is usually in the Testing Lab, or the Experimental Lab is still there, or you can ask Chemistry or Engineering to give you theirs.
Friendship and Slimes
If you've been following the guide and diligently breeding and culling the slimes, you may have noticed that while the slimes very quickly attack and eat the monkeys you offer them, they have little to no interest in eating you. This is because you've become their "friend", a status that can be earned by simply being the one sending them monkeys. To check if slimes are friendly, say "Hello slimes"; all the slimes that consider you their friend will say hello.
There are some commands you can issue as a slime's friend, including "follow", "stop" and "attack". Keep in mind however, these commands are exceedingly finicky, and are rarely used for a reason. Slimes will not attack other slimes or friends.
Defending against slimes
So either by you not feeding the slime enough, the slime being an dick, or reasons, a slime has tried to kill you. If the slime is a baby, this is annoying. If the slime is an adult, you may die if you don't know what you're doing.
Slimes have two attacks: A glomp that does brute damage with adults dealing more and a chance to stun, and the far more dangerous 'feeding' attack which deals cellular damage and empowers the slime, a rare and very difficult to heal type of damage. If a slime starts feeding on you, wrestle it off with disarm intent and spray it down with an extinguisher (You DID get an extinguisher, right?) when you get it off until it dies. After that, hobble off to medbay for healing.
While this is generally more a tip for you when NOT playing Xenobiologist, in the event of a very rare slime outbreak, perhaps of sentient slimes, get an extinguisher and hide. A horde of angry slimes can multiply fast, and while slimes are normally unintelligent and docile, outbreaks of them are nearly always done on purpose by someone wanting to destroy the station, and are thus paired with usage of red extracts enraging slimes and/or light pink or black extracts making very deadly intelligent slimes. Pray that the AI is able to stop them, and that the xenobiologist who released the slimes doesn't follow up with something worse.
Slime Mutations
There are several a fuckload of different flavors of slime. You begin with two grey slimes but, you can breed them to catch all the pokèmon! slimes! Each kind of slime has its own powers from its extract.
Every time a slime splits by being fed enough, it has a chance to mutate based on it's individual mutation chance, a stat discovered by taking a slime scanner from the fridge and using it on the slime. It usually varies between 25% and 45%, but sometimes you will encounter slimes whose mutation chance is more like 15% to 20%. Choose carefully which slimes to keep! If you're breeding greys for monkeys, you'll want less chance of mutations, and if you want to get adamantines, you might want to increase it!
NOTE: You can increase a slime's chance of mutation by injecting it with slime mutation potions from red slimes and decrease it with slime stability potions from blue slimes.
This flowchart shows the results of each slime's mutations when splitting, with options labeled "2x" having twice the chance of occurring.
Formulas
All injections require one unit of reagent. Dropper is your friend. You can also dilute your plasma by, for example, filling a beaker with 40u of water and 10u of plasma; a syringe will collect exactly one unit of plasma this way.
Tier 0
Grey Slime
- Extract creates a grey slime when injected with plasma. Useful as a backup grey slime.
- Extract creates three monkey-cubes when injected with blood. Useful if you want to do your job for more than five minutes.
- Extract creates Epinephrine when injected with water.
Tier 1
Orange Slime
- Extract creates a small plasma fire when injected with plasma. Also increases the pressure of the air a fair amount.
- Extract creates capsaicin (pepper-spray) when injected with blood. Usable as a 'ghetto stun' if you can find a good way to apply it to to your
victimtest subject. - Extract creates a small cloud of smoke when injected with water. It'll carry any other reagent already inside the slime extract.
Purple Slime
- Extract creates a bottle of slime steroid when injected with plasma. Slime steroid is a potent chemical mix that will cause a slime to produce one more extract when processed, for a maximum of five. Useful when used on dark purple slimes for that plasma or grey slimes for monkeys. The extract only works on live slimes.
- Extract creates regenerative jelly when injected with blood. Similar to Tricordrazine, but more potent and non toxic to jellypeople.
Blue Slime
- Extract creates frost oil when injected with plasma.
- Extract creates slime stabilizer when injected with blood. Reduces a slime's mutation chance by 15%, and carries through across generations.
- Extract creates foam when injected with water. It'll carry any other reagent already inside the slime extract.
Metal Slime
- Extract creates 5 sheets of plasteel and 15 sheets of metal when injected with plasma. Expect the roboticists to want the products. Grinding plasteel will generate plasma and iron, making it a perfect substitute to dark purple slimes.
- Extract creates 5 sheets of reinforced glass and 15 sheets of glass when injected with water.
Tier 2
Yellow Slime
- Extracts become 10k Charge Powercells when injected with plasma. These cells are self-charging, and very useful for cyborgs or APCs, for example. Valuable for R&D.
- Extract creates an EMP when injected with blood. It's a quite big blast as well, useful if that AI is onto your tricks.
- Extracts emit light when injected with water. They can be squeezed to increase the light emitted.
Dark Purple Slime
- Extract creates 3 sheets of Solid Plasma when injected with plasma. Yessir, NT can link anything to the production of plasma. Also useful for further experimenting.
Dark Blue Slime
- Extract creates supercooled N2 when injected with plasma. Useful for countering those red slimes.
- Extract creates a three-use chill potion when injected with water, which fireproofs anything it's used on. Be a firebug without looking like one! Miners can make good use of this, as it will make them storm-proof.
Silver Slime
- Extract creates a small amount of random food when injected with plasma, bork bork bork. Expect anything from a roburger to death berries.
- Extract creates a small amount of random drinks when injected with water, bork bork bork.
Tier 2.5
Bluespace Slime
- Extract will, if injected with plasma, spawn a Bluespace Crystal. They will teleport you when crushed in your hand and teleport anyone you throw it at. It also has some good research levels.
- Extract will, if injected with blood, create 25 Bluespace Floor Tiles, which speed up movement drastically.
Sepia Slime
- Extract stops time when injected with plasma. How?
SpessSlime Magic! - Extract creates some Film and a Camera when injected with water. Fuck this is so useless.
- Extract creates 25 Sepia Floor Tiles when injected with blood. They slow movement speed above them.
Cerulean Slime
- Extract creates a bottle of extract enhancer when injected with plasma. When used on a extract it adds one use to it. You can start laughing madly now.
- Extract creates a one-use blueprint when injected with blood. Renaming an area with it will turn the floor blue and allow the Slime Console to work on that area.
Pyrite Slime
- Extract creates a can of paint when injected with plasma. For the love of all that is holy,
don'tgive it to the clown! - Extract creates a random crayon when injected with blood.
Tier 3
Red Slime
- Extract creates a bottle of slime mutation potion when injected with plasma. Makes slimes 12% more likely to mutate, the opposite of the slime stabilizer.
- Extract makes nearby slimes rabid when injected with blood. Has some fun uses.
- Extract creates a bottle of speed potion when injected with water. The speed potion will negate slowdown from any item of clothing or vehicle it is applied to.
Green Slime
- Extract creates some slime mutation toxin when injected with plasma. Injecting yourself with it will turn you into a slimeperson. This has several pros and cons, but what is important to xenobiology is that slimes will never attack you and your blood is not valid for blood-based reactions. Ingesting more slime mutation toxin when you're already slimeperson has a chance to turn you into a Stargazer or Luminescent.
- Injecting the extract with radium creates some lizard mutation toxin instead.
- Injecting it with blood creates human mutation toxin.
Pink Slime
- Extract creates a bottle of docility potion when injected with plasma, a potent chemical mix that will nullify a slime's hunger, causing it to become docile and tame, and will let you name it. You too can have your own pet, just like the HoP!
- Extract creates a bottle of gender changing potion when injected with blood, which changes the gender of any living, gendered thing it is used on.
Gold Slime
- Extract spawns five random dangerous hostile mobs when injected with plasma.
- Extract spawns three random dangerous mobs when injected with blood. These mobs are not immediately hostile, but may be provoked by certain actions, proximity to other creatures (such as your slimes) or if they encounter a construct or mech. You can also spawn magicarps and changeling headslugs!
- Extract spawns one random friendly critter when injected with water. Now you can fill xenobiology with mobs even if you're a giant pussy!
See here for the list of summonable mobs.
Tier 4
Oil Slime
- Extract creates an explosion after a moment when injected with plasma.
- Extract creates Corn Oil when injected with blood.
Black Slime
- Extract creates some advanced mutation toxin when injected with plasma. Turns you, or others, into a sentient grey baby slime. Beware, slimes are still not harmless. This mutation can be prevented with frost oil, if you are quick enough. Acts instantly on slimepeople.
Light Pink Slime
- Extract creates a bottle of sentience potion when injected with plasma, a potent chemical mix that will bring human level intelligence to any animal, slime, monster or generally active thing you feed it to. Make Ian sentient! Create an army of gold slime minions! The possibilities are limited only by your own deviousness and the number of ghosts in the round.
Adamantine Slime
- Extract creates an adamantine bar when injected with Plasma. It can be sold at cargo for a high amount of credits, or it can be used inhand to craft a golem shell. Golem shells can then be finished with ten sheets of any material, which will affect the golem's properties. After completion, a ghost can possess the shell to spawn as a golem. It will follow the orders of who finishes the shell above anything else, and inherit conversion antagonist status, such as cult, from their owner.
Special Slimes
Rainbow Slime
To attain this rare slime you must breed a slime with a 100% mutation chance!
- Extract will spawn a random slime when injected with plasma.
- Extract will generate a mind transference potion when injected with blood. You can use it to transfer your mind into a creature. This is not reversible and will result in your old body's instant death.
- Extract will spawn a flight potion when injected with 5u of Holy water and 5u Uranium.
So You're a Traitor
What you can get here that can't be gotten easier elsewhere is an EMP and random hostile animals which include a few very deadly ones CARPS SPACE BEARS ALIUMS SPIDERS HIVEBOTS PINE TREES OH GOD IT'S HORRIFYING. Releasing the slimes is somewhat viable, but you will likely get caught doing so, and baby slimes are rather tame (Unless you have Red Slime Essence. Then it's a party.)
On the plus side, you do have a disposal chute that goes directly to space. Pretty handy for disposing of evidence, or people.
Also remember the havoc with grenades and bombs you can cause! If you can get access to chemistry as well you can make some interesting grenades. Advanced mutation toxin with sugar in one beaker, phosphorus and potassium in the other. Set a timer in the Medbay and drop it and listen to all the people turning into Slimes. This is when you laugh to yourself and realize it backfires when all the slimes attack you.
A full guide to ruining someone's day with slimes:
- Red - Makes all slimes within sight range hyper aggressive. Also makes speed potions which can make it easier to evade guns while firing off other slime cores while still keeping high armor values or being able to go in space freely.
- Green - Produces 1 unit of a chemical that turns people into different races including slime persons. Use it on someone and convince the AI that they're a danger to humanity. Needs at least 5 units for it to work in a smoke grenade.
- Black - Turns people into actual slimes, no fort save. Again, 5 units in a smoke or foam grenade will make for a very interesting shuttle flight.
- Orange - Ignites a large fire.
- Yellow - Huge EMP.
- Silver - Only way to get real roburgers (with nanites) and motherfucking GATFRUIT.
- Gold - We all know what this does.
- Sepia - Stops time in a small radius, allowing you to wreak many kinds of havoc.
- Oil - Explosion. Pretty meh considering there's materials for IEDs everywhere.
- Adamantium - Makes golems that can be converted to the cult/soul shard/revved. They have to follow orders given to them by their creator so feel free to make them suicide bomb with gold slime cores.
- Light pink - Enables you to make sentient beings, including anything a gold slime extract can produce. Magicarps included.
