Factorio Forums

TL;DR

A machine that uses stone and lightning to create a slow trickle of holmium without the need of scrap recycling.

What?

On my research about Fulgora, and what you can find there, I learned about fulgurite deposits.
You probably have seen these tree-like structures before. They are also called fossilized lightning and are created when lightning hits sand. So I have been wondering. Why does this fulgurite in particular create holmium? Is the ground on Fulgora rich in elements that are turned into holmium when exposed to electrical currents or intense heat?
This made me think. Could an engineer harness this process, and create holmium from scratch?

I came to offer the following suggestion:
A lightning chamber.
A machine, possibly created from a Lightning Collector and maybe a Crusher to slowly turn stone into sand to be imbued with said lightning.
The machine would require stone to run, and draw a massive amount of electricity from the charged atmosphere.
This process would pull lightning in a very large radius towards the machine, rendering it inaccessible, but charging the lightning chamber to create holmium.

Why?

This addition would give multiple opportunities to spice up production on Fulgora.
Because of the high range and power draw, it would be unfeasable to build these in or around your base or even close to each other.
This would incentivize the player to sprinkle them in between scrap mining operations and in remote locations.
Trains can be set up to deliver stone and retrieve holmium, creating an aditional, logistical challenge.
Holmium is the rarest resource on Fulgora, and adding an additonal way to create it would allow crafty players to close a bottleneck in their production.

What do you think about this idea? Would it be fun to use the lightning on Fulgora for other things aside from creating power? Or would this be too much of a hassle?
-Zera

I would also like a way to create more holmium without the need to recycle more, cause it's supposed to be a raw resource, it should exist somewhere. Or we should be able to get holmium plate from scrap.