Luciferium
Luciferium
A concoction of mechanites that dramatically improve the body's functioning in all respects. Over time, it can even heal old scarred-over wounds or brain damage, though it cannot regenerate lost limbs. Unfortunately, without the moderating effects of regular doses every five or six days, the mechanites lose cohesion, causing continuous berserk rages and, eventually, death.
After the first dose, there is no way to get the mechanites out, ever.
On the urbworlds, they call Luciferium the 'Devil's Bargain'. Many have been forced to kill friends when no more of the seductive red pills could be found.
Base Stats
- Type
- Drug – Medical Drug
- Tech Level
- Ultra
- Market Value
- 70
- Stack Limit
- 150
- Mass
- 0.01 kg
- HP
- 50
- Deterioration Rate
- 2
- Flammability
- 100%
- Rotatable
- False
- Path Cost
- 14 (48%)
Ingestion
- Addictiveness
- 100%
- Maximum To Ingest
- 1
- defName
- Luciferium
- Preferability
- NeverForNutrition
- Food Preference
- NeverForFood
- Drug Category
- Medical
- Is Pleasure Drug
- false
Luciferium is a rare, powerful, expensive and dangerous drug that can heal permanent injuries, chronic health conditions, and helps fight disease, but will kill its user if not taken regularly.
Acquisition
Luciferium cannot be crafted, and must be either acquired through trade, as a quest reward, found in ancient shrines, or looted from pirate Raiders.
Summary
Luciferium provides a variety of enhancing effects. It always causes addiction. These can be broken into effects that occur:
- While addicted to the drug.
- While withdrawing from the drug.
Luciferium Addiction
- Improved blood filtration (+70%)
- Improved digestion (+20%)
- Improved blood pumping (+15%)
- Improved sight (+15%)
- Improved consciousness (+10%)
- Improved breathing (+10%)
- Improved moving (+5%)
- Reduced pain (×80%)
- 1 Scar/permanent injury or ailment removed every 900,000 to 1,800,000 ticks (15 - 30 in-game days) (Also included but not limited to Alzheimer's, Asthma, Cataracts, Carcinoma, Dementia, Frail, Hearing Loss and Blindness)[Purely random?]
- If a pawn is not addicted: +100% luciferium need
- If a pawn is already addicted: +90% lucifierium need (scaled by body size)
Luciferium addiction is unique in that it is permanent - there is no waiting it out. If not taken regularly, luciferium will eventually kill. Pawns will remain addicted even after applying healer mech serum or resurrector mech serum. The only possible way to save someone going through a luciferium withdrawal is to give them more luciferium.
Developing an addiction forms a luciferium need. This need falls by 15% every day, consuming luciferium satisfies the need by +90%. Therefore, an adult human would need to take 1 dose of luciferium every 6 days exactly. Only the first dose sets luciferium need to 100%.
Withdrawal
As soon as the luciferium need reaches 0%, the pawn suffers from the following symptoms:
- Intense pain (+40%) (−15 mood normally, +7 mood with the Ideoligion meme Pain: Idealized and +15 with Masochist trait)
- Impaired consciousness (80% Max)
- Berserk mental breaks (MTB of 0.4 days)
- Death (MTB of 10 days)
Death is caused by the brain being instantly destroyed, meaning that the Deathless gene
does not protect against it.
Healing method table
Some injuries and health conditions will not naturally heal or cannot be immediately cured by treatment. In these cases, transplantation, artificial body parts, healer mech sera, luciferium or biosculpter pods
may help, but each has its own unique list of what it can and cannot cure.
The full comparison table between healing methods is collapsed due to length. Expand to view.
- ^Both Heals both relevant organs if condition is present in both.
- ^One Heals only one organ, even if condition is present in both.
- ^Prev This option prevents the acquisition of new cases of this condition, independent of whether or not it cures existing cases.
- ^IGS While this option does not outright cure these diseases, the increase to Immunity Gain Speed can hasten their healing and/or help prevent fatal cases.
- ^Note 1 This only heals the pawn it is applied to. The other pawn that gained duplicate sickness with this pawn must be separately healed.
- ^Note 2 This condition can only be cured before it reaches its final stage, "crumbled mind". Once it has, it becomes permanently incurable.
Analysis
Luciferium is useful for treating permanent injuries and conditions. Curing many of these would otherwise require the much rarer healer mech serum or DLC-exclusive options such as the biosculpter pod , the Scarless gene , or the Unnatural healing ability.
Some other ailments require long-term and potentially ineffective medicial treatment, or a surgery with an unavoidable chance of instant death. The increase in blood filtration also increases Immunity Gain Speed, which can help fight off otherwise fatal diseases (whenever from old age or poor treatment). For a breakdown of what can be cured by which method, see the healing method table or the page of the ailment in question.
In addition to its medical properties, luciferium provides a small but permanent buff to many tasks a pawn can perform, in combat or out. Other than that, luciferium is useful for the ship launch or the Royal Ascent quest 
. Once you've left the planet, addiction doesn't matter - at least for gameplay purposes.
Lucifierium isn't too expensive. 10 doses of luciferium costs a market value of 700 silver and can sustain a human for a year. If you can get a consistent source of trade and income, luciferium can be tolerated even if you don't need its medical properties.
Keeping many colonists addicted is difficult, as faction bases and traders only come with so many doses per restock. However, an extensive trade network can support into the double digits.
Luciferium can be administered to animals via the operations menu, substantially improving their combat effectiveness. Sometimes, animals may also take Luciferium randomly by themselves if it is within their allowed zone.
Luciferium management
Luciferium has to be taken every 6 days on the dot, or the withdrawal risks killing them. However, due to the mechanics of a fixed drug schedule, setting their drug assignment to take one pill every 6 days does NOT work. If this is set, pawns will only begin to take luciferium 6 days after they have taken their last drug. Therefore, even the slightest delay (e.g. the small time spent walking to an open tile to take the drug) will cause the need to slowly decay, potentially killing the pawn.
Instead, for all adult pawns that take luciferium, players should use the "take for addiction" setting in the drug policy. This has pawns take the drug as soon as their need level hits 10%, which is both self-correcting in the event a dose is delayed, and avoids all waste. Players should also ensure that the pawn's drug policy has them carry at least one dose of the drug, to ensure that it's taken in as timely a manner as possible. For pawns younger than 18, "take for addiction" can be used for safety, though note that it can waste a small amount of dosage.
When creating a caravan with addicted pawns, remember to either bring luciferium manually or have the pawns set up to carry several doses. For long trips or maximum safety, having transport pods available to launch additional doses in an emergency is also advisable.
Putting a pawn into a cryptosleep casket or a biosculpter pod will suspend their luciferium needs until they are let out. This can be a way to save their life in case the drug runs out. If you run out of luciferium before researching or building them, you can look for ancient shrines, as they have ancient cryptosleep caskets.
Raider farming
It is possible to give prisoners luciferium to make them addicted, if the prisoner leaves the map title safely, they may reappear in future raids and bring two or three doses of luciferium with them.
Trivia
- Luciferium is considered to be in the "Ultra" tech level.
- Luciferium is named after Lucifer; the personification of evil in Christian theology. Its nickname, "The Devil's Bargain," is a further hint to this; and, indeed, addicting a pawn to luciferium is quite like a deal with the devil: unparalleled power at the cost of a lifelong race against the death-clock.
Gallery
One luciferium
Stack of luciferium
Version history
- 0.15.1279 - Added.
- 1.1.0 - Fixed Luciferium not removing Frail. Now, lucifierum can remove all chronic health conditions.
- 1.1.2610 - Reduced market value from 120 to 70.
- 1.4.3523 - Luciferium now causes death from brain destruction, meaning the deathless gene cannot stop it.