One of the blueprints Raft players find on Varuna Point is for an advanced battery. This battery works with every device that takes simple batteries, including the recycler, the receiver, the electric purifier, and the electric grill players can also find on Varuna Point.
The advanced battery doesn't provide any bonuses to the equipment Raft players attach it to, but it does last much longer than a simple battery. But since by this point players should have a way to recharge spent batteries, are advanced batteries really worth the extra cost of building them?
Pros
- The advanced battery is twice as big as a simple battery, but its charge lasts over three times as long.
- With a larger charge, fully automated devices like the sprinkler and the electric purifier can run for longer without needing the player to check in and replace the battery. This means players can spend more time exploring islands and focusing on other tasks without having to check in on their animals and grass plots.
- Devices like the recycler and the juicer that spend their battery charge fast can run for longer before players have to swap in a fresh battery.
- While advanced batteries take longer to recharge in a battery charger or wind turbine, even considering their triple charge, they should still be ready by the time players need to swap out a drained advanced battery.
Cons
- Each advanced battery costs 2 copper ingots, 2 scrap, and 4 titanium, while simple batteries only cost 1 copper ingot, 6 plastic, and 3 scrap. Titanium is hard to find even after players get access to the metal detector, and so their supply of this metal will quickly run dry if they try to replace every simple battery on their raft.
- Some devices, such as the receiver, spend their charge so slowly that upgrading to an advanced battery gives no real benefit.
- Every battery socket has a set of colored LEDs that show how close to empty a battery's charge is. Players can watch these to keep their devices charged even with simple batteries.
In the end, advanced batteries are more convenient than simple batteries, but they don't offer anything new or irreplaceable. Players may want to build a few advanced batteries to power automated systems like the electric purifier or heavy-use devices like the recycler or the electric smelter, but they shouldn't replace all their simple batteries since they'll need the titanium for other crafting projects.
Raft is available now on PC.