Ports and conduits
A port is a socket on the edge of a module. It points at the cell just outside the module. A module can have up to four. An empty port takes no space on the grid.
Ports do three things: they hold a Tek Cipher, they link the module to a conduit, and with the right ciphers in every port they let the module become a harmonic.
Which modules have ports
- Only Normal-rarity modules roll ports when they are created, whether dropped or built.
- Bigger modules can hold more: a one-cell module up to 2, a two-cell module up to 3, and a module of three cells or more up to 4.
- Deeper breach tiers roll more ports on drops. Higher blueprint research tiers roll more ports on builds.
- A module of any other rarity has ports only if it carries a Ports modifier. Six Regalia pieces do.
- A JANUS Graft adds one port to a module that has none, and a CARDEA Portmender moves a module's empty ports to new positions. See Consumables.
Ports are placed at random along the module's edges, and they turn when the module is rotated.
Filling a port
Attaching a Tek Cipher is permanent: ciphers cannot be taken out again. The filled port adds the cell it points at to the module, so the module grows by one cell for each cipher. If the module is fitted, the larger shape must still be legal where it sits. If it is not, the cipher is refused and is not used up.
Conduits
A conduit is a one-cell core item. There is one for each module type. It does little alone and more for every module of its own type that points a port at it.
A conduit counts one connection for each fitted module that has the same type as the conduit and a port pointing at the conduit's cell. Its effectiveness is 50% with nothing connected and rises by 50% per connection, up to four.
| Connected modules | Effectiveness |
|---|---|
| 0 | 50% |
| 1 | 100% |
| 2 | 150% |
| 3 | 200% |
| 4 | 250% |
The conduit's tooltip shows both numbers. Effectiveness scales the conduit's own bonuses and any modifiers rolled on it.
| Conduit | Bonus at 100% |
|---|---|
| Armor Conduit | Max armor +5%, mass +2% |
| Shield Conduit | Barrier regen rate +12% |
| Drone Conduit | Drone bandwidth +2 |
| ECM Conduit | Heat dissipation +5%, ECM max range +5% |
| Missile Conduit | Missile damage +6% |
| Turret Conduit | Turret damage +4% |
| Propulsion Conduit | Max speed +4% |
| Utility Conduit | Cargo capacity +2, salvage luck +7% |
A THOTH Adapter changes a module's type, and with it the conduit the module feeds.
The other rule about touching
Conduits are one of two rules that depend on where modules sit. The other is Regalia: pieces of the same set only work together when they share an edge.