Trading
Orbitarion has a player-driven market. Any planet can post an offer — a bundle of resources it gives, against a bundle it wants — and any planet within trade reach can accept it. Trading is how you convert a surplus into what you actually need, and in the late game it is a supply line in its own right.
How the market works
- Post an offer on the Trade screen: what you give (Ti/Si/Ur) and what you want in return. The offered resources are escrowed — deducted from your stockpile the moment the offer goes live.
- Browse offers from planets within your trade reach. Offers you can't afford (you lack the requested resources) are dimmed and marked.
- Accept an offer. The requested resources are deducted from you immediately, and both shipments are delivered on the next tick.
- Transport loss: market trades lose 15% of the shipped resources in transit. Price your offers with that margin in mind.
If nobody accepts your offer before it expires, it is cancelled and your escrowed resources are refunded in full.
Trade reach — the Trading research branch
Trade range is gated by a dedicated research branch (four technologies):
| Research | Cost (Ti / Si / Ur) | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Local Exchange | 500 / 500 / 0 | Trade with planets in your galaxy |
| Trade Routes | 1 500 / 1 500 / 0 | Trade across your cluster |
| Void Commerce | 3 000 / 3 000 / 800 | Trade with The Void |
| Intergalactic Exchange | 5 000 / 5 000 / 1 500 | Trade across all clusters |
Research times vary by round type — check the Research screen in-game for the current season's values. Until you research Local Exchange, you cannot post or accept any offers.
Trading with The Void
With Void Commerce researched, The Void itself becomes a trading partner. It works differently from player trades:
- The Void evaluates your open market offers with its own valuation and only accepts offers where it comes out clearly ahead (roughly a 30% surplus in its own terms).
- The Void prizes uranium — it values Ur at about twice the rate of Ti/Si. Offers requesting titanium or silicon against your uranium are the ones it bites on.
- It takes at most a few offers per pass, so a Void trade is never guaranteed — it's a way to offload surplus at a known (bad but reliable) exchange rate.
The Void never posts its own offers. It only accepts yours.
Trading and Daily Missions
Several Daily Missions reward posting and completing trades — an easy way to keep your streak alive on quiet days once the branch is unlocked.