Ixion is a space survival city-builder that holds nothing back. Everything can be going fine one minute, then snowball into compounding disasters the next. Completing all the game's chapters without a mutiny or a catastrophic hull failure is a challenge, to say the least.

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Ixion is the kind of game that rewards players who learn, experiment, and then restart from the beginning with the knowledge they've gained. We've gone through that cycle a few times now, and there's a lot that we wish we'd known from the start. Read on to find simple tips that could save your ship!

7 Resources Can Only Be Used If They're In Stockpiles

docking bay stockpiles

Building up a surplus of resources is a necessity in Ixion; without extra food, raw materials, and alloys to get you through hard times, you'll never make it to the end of your journey. However, the game's resource system makes hoarding too many resources a problem.

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Whenever a resource is produced or brought aboard the Tiqqun from space, it cannot be used until it's transferred to an appropriate Stockpile building in the same sector. Even if a structure is in dire need of an input resource, it can't be sent straight from the Docking Bay. Resources can't even be transferred to a new sector unless they're in a Stockpile, so it's critical that you have somewhere to put everything you produce.

6 There's No Penalty For Demolition

tiqqun under construction

In most city builders, tearing down a building only refunds a portion of the resources that were initially used to construct it. This isn't the case in Ixion. If you demolish a building, you get all the resources back. This means you can freely re-zone and optimize your sectors! It's a huge advantage, so be sure to use it.

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The main caveat, of course, is that the refunded resources must be able to go to a Stockpile before the structure can be demolished. If there's nowhere for the building materials to go, the structure will remain empty, taking up space.

5 Save Some Polymers For Extra Solar Panels Early On

opening launch

Managing the Tiqqun's power load is one of the game's most critical elements. Early in your journey, you'll need to quickly expand your energy production by building solar panels on the outside of the ship. These come with a hefty Polymer cost, so until you get a Refinery online it can be tough to get more power.

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The prologue and first chapter are fairly generous with Polymers that you can find in space, so use them to build extra solar panels even if you don't need them right away. You'll be glad you did later on, when you would otherwise be running up against your energy limit and risking blackouts.

There's an early upgrade to Solar Panels in the tech window that reduces their construction cost by ten percent. Research it as early as you can to save hundreds of Polymers over the course of the campaign!

4 Staying In A System Too Long Impacts Stability

DES dead earth syndrome

Ixion incentivizes players to complete each chapter quickly. That can be a tall order given each system's numerous objectives, especially if you're going in with no prior knowledge. If you don't leave a system within the time limit (usually around 180 cycles), the entire ship will suffer a point of negative Stability until you proceed to the next chapter.

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If you've played the game, then you don't need to be told how bad a Stability penalty is. It might be worth balancing the need to collect extra resources with the danger that comes with eroding Stability, especially when you consider that there are several story events that introduce permanent Stability penalties!

3 Memorials Get Bonuses If They're In The Correct Sector Type

dolos founder statue

Early on, you'll be able to research the Memorials technology, which allows you to build three unique monuments on board the Tiqqun. Each provides a Stability bonus to its sector, and doesn't require workers or power, making them useful propaganda tools.

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The game doesn't tell you this unless you inspect the Memorial tech, but having the right Memorial in the right sector will enhance its Stability bonus further if you research its upgrades. Build Memorials as follows for the best possible results:

Memorial

Sector Specialization

Genetic Conatus

Food

Lunaclysm

Population

Marduk

Industry

2 Don't Stockpile Too Many Cryopods In One Place

tiqqun etemenanki

Finding and thawing Cryopods throughout your journey is the only way to increase the Tiqqun's population. There's no avoiding the fact that crew members will die, so at the very least you'll need a Cryogenics Facility to replace casualties and expand your capabilities.

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Regardless of how many Cryopods are available in a system, you should aim to never have more Cryopods than crew in a sector. The crew takes a Stability penalty if that is the case, so until you have a large population the best strategy is to take one Stockpile's worth on board, thaw it out, then get another batch.

You may have to leave some Cryopods behind when you move to a new system, especially if it means getting out before the time limit expires.

1 Each Chapter Is Harder Than The Last

black market battleship

You've stabilized your population, built up productive industry, and even managed to store up some raw materials for later. It's time to move on to the next system, and you're feeling pretty good about your chances. After all, you managed to keep everything under control up until this point... right?

Whenever you fire up the VOHLE Engine and jump to a new system, you need to be ready for an immediate spike in difficulty. Not only will you need to probe for fresh resources immediately, but there will usually be a new, nasty hazard waiting for you on the other side. For this reason, it's best to only initiate a system jump if your Stability is positive and you have enough Alloys saved up to keep hull repairs going for the forseeable future.

It's also a good idea to create a manual save file before jumping. That way, if things go really sideways you can go back to the old system where things are a bit more stable, instead of restarting from the beginning of the chapter where it's too late.

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