Why would I care about pollution?

[Laie]

Hello,

at first I thought I need to avoid pollution and may leave peacefully with my neighbors, but a few hours into the game I'm now at the point where I wonder if I should worry at all.

Is it worthwhile to put much (or even any) effort into pollution reduction?

As I understand it, critters will evolve anyway and I can't possibly reduce pollution so much as to avoid attacks altogether, so I still have to build the defences in any event. That leaves the running cost of actually shooting at critters when and if they show up. Will the cost of defending my factory ever matter, relative to all other production?

[steinio]

Is it worthwhile to put much (or even any) effort into pollution reduction?

No - imho.

But... if a pollution cloud reaches a biter nest they will attack additionally to the expansion group attacks.
So either your perimeter is as strong as frick and you don't care at all or you just build your perimeter as large as the pollution doesn't reach the nests.

Well if you have disabled expansion you could probably live without a defense perimeter if you cleared enough area.

[Amarula]

First of all, welcome!

Every freeplay game is randomly different; some games you can build up your factory without needing to defend it until you reach the point that you can handle anything coming at you. Other times, you may be steamrolled before you get set. It sounds like Santa RNG has been kind to you in your first game. My suggestion is to take the gift, learn how to defend your factory, what causes the worst pollution, and what you can do about it - and then have all that knowledge for the next game when it may be critical. Or start a new game using deathworld settings and you will see what all the fuss is about

Either way, have fun for... the factory must grow!

[jodokus31]

If you clear the biter bases in the pollution cloud, you won't get any attacks. Reducing pollution helps, to keep this cloud smaller.
But beware, they grow back, if you have enemy expansion on, which is the case in default settings. You need some kind of defence f.e. artillery to keep them out. (BTW: If you play on rail world, enemy expansion is switched off. It can also be customized in map settings).

Pollution gets more problematic, if you play on harder settings like deathworld. It's a ridiculous difference, if you use effectivity (green) modules

[Yoyobuae]

I can't possibly reduce pollution so much as to avoid attacks altogether

Oh, but actually you can. I launched a rocket without triggering any attacks at all (default setings):

https://imgur.com/a/3IAegxs#eUL1TMd

I also made some good headway into a deathworld run without fighting any biters:

https://imgur.com/a/x6qnBpJ

I feel you have yet to be introduced to the massively OP efficiency modules. You can reduce pollution generation by up to 5x. That's huge!

[Serenity]

As I understand it, critters will evolve anyway

On standard settings it doesn't matter, since evolution is very slow. With higher evolution rates you may notice the difference and keeping up with it can be an issue in the early to mid game.

The size of the attacks on a deathworld is also much higher. Eventually you always outclass the biters. They aren't meant to be a threat in the end game. But early on they can be. To the point where they can easily overwhelm defenses.

[Laie]

First of all, welcome!

[...]It sounds like Santa RNG has been kind to you[...]

Thanks for the welcome!

I do have two nearby nests sending regular assault waves which -so far- are easily repelled. Then again, it's still small biters: I have no idea how bad it will get.

If you clear the biter bases in the pollution cloud, you won't get any attacks.

But... if a pollution cloud reaches a biter nest they will attack additionally to the expansion group attacks.

The consensus I seem to pick up is that pollution-induced attacks are something to be avoided? Whether by managing pollution or a biter eradication program, it looks like you don't like it when a nest comes under the cloud.

[jodokus31]

The consensus I seem to pick up is that pollution-induced attacks are something to be avoided? Whether by managing pollution or a biter eradication program, it looks like you don't like it when a nest comes under the cloud.

Not necessarily. Killing bases increases evolution and you sooner will have medium biters and spitters, which are much worse than small biters. (https://wiki.factorio.com/Enemies)
Otherwise, if you build a perimeter, you might get locked-in and expanding gets harder. It's very much work to build a proper perimeter and it's worth to first get to bots.
I often build 2x2 gun turrets with a wall around on strategic places, which can deal with middle sized attacks in early game. As soon as spitters show up, it gets very tough to protect it, but its kind of a midway between clearing everything and a perimeter.

[foamy]

I tend to compromise; I like the production efficiency of speed + prod mod synergizing (beaconed or otherwise), but I will usually slap triple eff-1s in my miners. Since mining patches are the ones that wind up having to move and be placed closer to biter nests, it reduces their local pollution (and power draws) tremendously, and meanwhile I have the multiplicative productivity bonus in the main production areas cutting down on how many miners (and everything else, for that matter) are required.

[Yoyobuae]

The consensus I seem to pick up is that pollution-induced attacks are something to be avoided? Whether by managing pollution or a biter eradication program, it looks like you don't like it when a nest comes under the cloud.

The reasoning is simple. Would you rather:

• Continually have to spend resources (iron plates if using gun turrets) kill biter after biter wave
• Spend resources/time once to either clear that biter nest or to control pollution such that you dont have to deal with biter attacks (at least until pollution further)

Even in speedruns where time is of the utmost importance, it's actually better to clear the nests than having to deal with attack after attack.

[mmmPI]

The consensus I seem to pick up is that pollution-induced attacks are something to be avoided? Whether by managing pollution or a biter eradication program, it looks like you don't like it when a nest comes under the cloud.

It also depends on settings, if you play without biter expansion like in a train world, those are the only "attacks". Which heavily influence the strategy.

If you play with biter expansion like the regular setting, you will receive periodic "attacks" even if nests aren't touched by any pollution. Just groups trying to make new nests closer and closer. Those are usually less frequent than attacks directly induced by pollution which depends directly on the amount of pollution that a nest receive/absorb.

In both case there is only benefits to avoid pollution-induced attacks.

With expansion however it is very difficult to avoid 100% because biters will try to expand on your face and thus gets very close to your pollution cloud no matter its size eventually.

Biters migrate, they do not just spawn, so if you make a giant border wall and massacre everything inside it will stay a no biter's land. Then you can try to keep your pollution cloud inside your border. For a long but thin defense. Since it would have to only stops migrating groups.

Depending on the map openeness and biters density it can feel tedious, if you have few lakes cliffs and forest, it will force you to wall everything around instead of using natural border. Plus your walled-off area won't absorb much pollution without trees ( and contain few ressources). Efficiency modules reduce pollution, but the other two increases it a lot. With all those factoring sometimes it feels a better trade off to have a small perimeter heavily fortified and let them come at you. That's another playstyle.

[Laie]

The reasoning is simple.

Put that way, yes, it totally makes sense. Thanks!