The Mobile Energy Lab
"Are you looking for the true power of pure energy?! We're going to show you the potential of true energy is like!" - Mobile Energy Lab as it attacks
The MAD Science Mobile Energy Lab is one of the bosses that a player fights on the journey to the center of the galaxy.
This minor faction specializes in testing out electrical weapons and systems, which is indicated by the text responses from the Satellites, the loot that is dropped by the Satellites, and the bonus from the Xsotan artifact that the Mobile Lab drops.
Finding the Lab[ | ]
The Mobile Energy Lab appears after the player vandalizes and destroys 4 Mad Science Satellites. These satellites appear in hidden mass sectors (yellow dots) at a radial distance of 150-240 sectors from the center of the galaxy: from the end of The AI's area up until the very outer edge of the barrier. This range is indicated on the map in the right column of the page. Sectors scouted by explorer captain labeled as "strange", "potentially dangerous", or "i've never seen anything like this before" has a chance of containing a satellite.
The first two satellites destroyed will present a message about an encrypted message being sent. The third satellite will say that an emergency signal was broadcast, warning the player that the encounter is imminent. After the fourth satellite is destroyed, the MAD Science Energy Lab will immediately appear in the vicinity of the satellite's location and begin a forced conversation that ultimately ends with the MAD Energy Lab becoming hostile and attacking.
If the player leaves the sector for any reason, the Mobile Energy Lab will immediately disappear. This means that, successful or not, another four satellites must be found and destroyed to summon the Mobile Energy Lab again.
MAD Science Energy Lab spawns between the blue circles.
The fight[ | ]
The Mobile Energy Lab fights with Lightning and Tesla turrets and has an overwhelmingly high damage output (often millions of damage per second) compared to other bosses. Even exceptionally large and durable ships crafted from Avorion are unlikely to survive more than a few seconds of conventional damage; pre-barrier ships will be destroyed almost instantly.
The trick to defeating it is detailed by messages from the same satellites destroyed to draw the attention of the science vessel: the electrical weapons used by the Mobile Energy Lab cannot permeate stone. This means that a ship with an exterior made entirely of a stone material, even if just a minimal-thickness layer, will take no hull damage from the very powerful lightning weapons. A player may choose to either craft a new stone ship for the sole purpose of defeating the Mobile Energy Lab or may apply a stone veneer to an existing ship, though caution must be exercised when taking the latter approach as even a small patch of exposed hull can prove instantly fatal.
An alternative strategy is to defeat the Mobile Energy Lab at extreme range, never giving it a chance to attack with its weapons. Its lightning guns have a range of approximately 15km, and staying at least 20km from the lab at all times allows a player to "kite" the lab with cannons, railguns, launchers, torpedoes, or other weapons that are viable from that distance. A nimble ship with ample boost capacity is recommended for this route as a gap of a few kilometers can be closed quickly.
Drops[ | ]
| Main Storyline Bosses | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pirate Captain Swoks | Bottan the Smuggler | The AI | The Brotherhood | MAD Energy Lab | Xsotan Wormhole Guardian | ||
| Other Bosses | |||||||
| 5468 6520 4149 | Fidget | Project IHDTX | Specimen 8055 | The Big Brother | Prototype XWG | ||