Catalyst

“This catalyst will suit our needs. With it, we can easily fabricate anything we will need.” — Singleton

A Beta holding a catalyst crystal

Catalyst is a mineral that is prominent throughout the Milky Way galaxy. On Ecosystem 09, catalyst are either found underground or in various hot springs (resource pools) scattered throughout the environment. In solid form, catalyst are arranged in a crystal lattice with a violet colouration.

Gameplay

Catalyst is the main resource in Grey Goo. Catalyst may be found in concentrated areas or stretched into lengths on a map. Each catalyst field provides one of three yield levels:

• Low-yield areas. These can be long stretches of catalyst fields that yield only 8 units per second when mined by an extractor. Mother Goos cannot harvest these.
• Normal spigots. These pools vent gas into the air and yield 10 units per second when mined by an extractor. Mother Goos grow when touching one of these.
• High-yield spigots. These pools vent gas furiously into the air and are often blocked by a catalyst vent plug, which must be destroyed before an extractor can be placed. These yield 13 units per second when mined by an extractor. Mother Goos can mine them, but to no additional benefit over normal spigots.

The Beta and Humans can deploy an extractor on the catalyst field and the catalyst is conveyed from there to refineries. Once collected, catalyst is stored in the player's catalyst stores (which can be increased by building silos), and can be spent to create new structures and units, repair structures, and research technology.

The Shroud can deploy an extractor on the catalyst field, which automatically mines catalyst into the player's catalyst stores.

The Goo, on the other hand, harvest catalyst by moving a Mother Goo over a spigot. This causes the Mother's health to increase over time, which can be spent to create new units, and research technology.

And although it is a finite resource. the Pools actually regenerate energy slowly...

It is unknown how fast they regen... and if you have to destroy an extractor to have them regen.