Packages and factions

This page will help you find a suitable combination of package, faction and starting location when first establishing your company. Following the advice below is especially vital if you are new to APEX. You best settle on a package first and then have a look at the different factions and the planets they control. Certain planets are better suited for some professions than others, and some planets and professions do not work together at all! But of course, the better suited a planet is for your industry, the higher the local competition will be.

Please note:

  • Some recommended starter planets do not have a commodity exchange. These are not recommended if you are using APEX for the first time.
  • When setting up your base, two additional Pioneer Habitation modules are recommended regardless of package.

Packages

Victualler

Short description Producing agricultural products that can be used in the food industries is the foundation of every colony.

Long description Victuallers are the heart of the food industry. Their profession revolves around extracting water, producing ingredients and turning it all into edibles for their own and others’ workforces. Without victuallers, all other industries would soon come to a halt, which is why their trade will always be relevant across the universe.

Important notes

As a victualler, you will depend on water. If you do not settle on a planet with water, you will have a hard time turning a profit. The speed at which the crops on your farms will grow depends on a planet’s soil fertility - the higher the fertility, the quicker the growth.

Rig (RIG): Extracts liquids (water) from the ground. Farmstead (FRM): Requires water to output different integredients used in food production and adjacent industries. Food Processor (FP): Takes food ingredients and turns them into consumables.

Promitor (Insitor Cooperative) Proxion (Castillo-Ito Mercantile)

Starting Experts

2 Food Industries experts

Metallurgist

Short description Metallurgists have all the knowledge and tools necessary to extract minerals and refine them into precious metals and composites.

Long description If you don’t mind getting your (workers’) hands dirty, this might be the job for you. Operating at the base of several industry branches, metallurgists produce ores, smelt them down and supply their trade partners with refined metals that will ultimately go into the construction of buildings, ships, and other structures.

Important notes

Extracting ores from the ground will be an essential everyday task for your company. Make sure that your planet contains at least one mineral, or you will not be able to put your Extractor to use. Plus, if that mineral is not an ore, you cannot put it into your smelter.

Extractor (EXT): Extracts ores from a planet’s surface. Smelter (SME): Refines ores into metals.

Vallis (NEO Charter Exploration)

Starting Experts

2 Metallurgy Experts

Carbon Farmer

Short description Carbon farmers grow plants and extract carbon from them.

Long description Carbon has become a vital resource across different industries, so much so that a whole job profile has evolved around it: the carbon farmer. Even though you will be planting crops like a victualler, you will not have much to do with the food industry. Instead, your plants will be harvested for their precious carbon, which is the basis for many essential production processes in the metal and other industries.

Important notes

Setting up shop on a planet with higher fertility will help increase your farms’ output. If a planet is completely infertile, farms cannot be built at all, leaving your company dead in the water!

Farmstead (FRM) (2x): Requires water to output different integredients used in food production and adjacent industries. Incinerator (INC): Extracts pure carbon from different carbon-rich plants.

Promitor (Insitor Cooperative)

Starting Experts

2 Agriculture Experts

Manufacturer

Short description Manufacturers produce construction granulate, tools and plastics for their trade partners to process further.

Long description As a manufacturer, you will be a versatile creature which does not depend too much on a single industry. Your company’s main purpose will be to supply your trade partners with goods such as basic clothing and building parts. Getting started as a manufacturer is quite complex logistically, as you will have to buy your input materials from a nearby commodity exchange.

Important notes

Your production lines will need hydrogen and carbon to operate. Hydrogen can be extracted from the atmosphere of certain planets directly, but initially you should look into buying it from a commodity exchange. Carbon is produced by an incinerator from various agricultural goods that will also be available on the market.

Basic Materials Plant (BMP) (2x): Produces a host of materials and end products needed to bootstrap a colony.

Vallis (NEO Charter Exploration) Gibson (Castillo-Ito Mercantile)

Starting Experts

2 Manufacturing Experts

Constructor

Short description Constructors know their way around building parts, from basic structural elements to complex engineering materials.

Long description You and your fellow constructors will be the key element to expanding existing bases or establishing new ones. Your output materials, mostly polyethylene and different building parts, will go toward the construction of your and your clients’ buildings.

Important notes

Since you will not be extracting or mining yourself, your production will require purchasing a host of natural resources, such as Iron, Limestone, Carbon, and Hydrogen.

Basic Materials Plant (BMP): Produces a host of materials and end products needed to bootstrap a colony.
Prefab Plant Mk1 (PP1): Produces basic prefabs necessary to construct buildings.

Montem (NEO Charter Exploration) Vallis (NEO Charter Exploration) Gibson (Castillo-Ito Mercantile)

Starting Experts

2 Construction Experts

Fuel Engineer

Short description Fuel engineers extract resources and synthesize them to different types of fuels.

Long description The commodities you produce will be the foundation of faster-than-light and slower-than-light space travel. Both fuel types are based on a variety of gaseous and solid ingredients, so there is plenty of room for development and specialization in your trade.

Important notes

Your Extractor will only be useful in STL fuel production if there is Galerite on your planet. You could instead opt for a Collector and settle on a planet prodiving Ammonia or Hydrogen.

Refinery (REF): Produces fuels used for space flight. Instead of Collector: Extractor (EXT): Extracts ores and minerals from the surface. Instead of Extractor: Collector (COL): Extracts gases from the atmosphere.

With Extractor: Katoa (Castillo-Ito Mercantile) With Collector: Katoa (Castillo-Ito Mercantile)

Starting Experts

2 Fuel Refining Experts

Factions

When picking your faction and planet, make sure they work well with your desired starter package.

伽斯蒂尤-伊藤商业

Castillo-Ito Mercantile controls two different colonies in their home system Benten.

History

伽斯蒂尤-伊藤商业（Castillo-Ito Mercantile）是世界领先的机器人自动化科技公司：伊藤机器人集团，与伽斯蒂尤集团——版图涉及矿业、能源、运输和金融产品等类别的跨国股份公司——商业合并后的产物。Combined, the company’s net worth easily surpases that of most smaller European countries combined. 他们很早就加入了传薪计划并在一开始就有清晰的战略规划。他们选取位于重要战略位置的关键行星，组装多批可靠的世代飞船，这些飞船最终全部成功地抵达并着陆于4个临近恒星系中的行星上。坐拥重要资源的产地，他们计划施展自己的雄心壮志并成为新世界中一股主要势力。

Controlled planets

Katoa, Gibson, Proxion, XK-590D, Benten c

NEO章程探索

NEO Charter Exploration has two colonies with commodity exchanges in the Moria System, which is known for its mineral-rich planets.

History

NCE是最早一家宇宙空间采矿公司。欧洲君主国授予的特许状允许他们利用地球和小行星带之间的已命名的近地天体。当传薪计划曝光后，他们已经有了开始建造大型世代飞船的一切必需基础设施。为了实现这一目标，他们捕获了一颗小行星，将其挖空并使用开采出来的矿物生产了必需的系统。所有这些行动都与地球相对独立，但是NCE仍然选择参与APEX系统以获取仅在地球上才能获取的基金和部件。在他们抵达富矿恒星系后，他们将世代飞船停泊在一艘行星的环绕轨道上并在另一颗行星上用小型飞船完成了着陆。

Controlled planets

Montem, Vallis, TK-575C

因希特集团

The Insitor Cooperative runs a commodity exchange on their only colony Promitor in the Hortus System. Promitor is a very fertile planet and has quickly become a center for food production and processing.

History

在传薪计划之前，南美洲已经成为了世界的菜篮子，而在这片大洲上的国家和集团准备在新世界中融为一体。在因希特银行，一家由农业和生物科技公司控股的集团，的主导下，他们选择了一种集约化的方案：建造一艘巨大、自给自足、带有更多温室和牲畜运载能力的世代飞船，这艘飞船比其它任何派系的设计都要更加巨大。为了满足这巨大的资源需求，他们推动其政府国有化了几乎所有矿业公司。他们殖民的目标是一颗被称为普罗密托（Promitor）的异常肥沃的行星。

Controlled planets

Promitor, SW-926C, Hortus c

About this page

This page is part of the APEX handbook's wiki section. If you are looking for an introduction to APEX, please refer to the tutorials.

If you encounter an error or cannot find the answers to your questions, we will gladly help you on our Discord server.