The Problem

My base goes dark every night and I cannot figure out how batteries actually work.

The Solution

Here is how power works in Abiotic Factor, explained from first principles.

The Night Cycle At 9 PM game time, every wall socket in the facility shuts off. Power stays dead until 6 AM. That is a 270-second blackout in real time — if your devices are not backed by batteries, they go dark. Food spoils in unpowered fridges. Defenses disarm. You craft in the dark.

How Batteries Work A battery sits between the wall socket and your devices. During the day (when the socket is live), the battery charges. At night, it discharges to keep connected devices running. Think of it as a buffer tank: the socket fills it during the day, and devices draw from it at night.

Verified Battery Capacities

Drain Rate Every connected device pulls the same amount: 1 charge every 5 seconds. A lamp, a fridge, a Tesla Coil — identical drain. What matters is how many devices share one battery. The formula: take the battery's total charge, multiply by 5, divide by the number of devices. That is your runtime in seconds.

Runtime Examples

A Makeshift Battery powering 1 device runs for 250 seconds — almost enough for the 270-second night. Powering 2 devices: 125 seconds, far short. An Industrial Battery (100 charge) powers 1 device for 500 seconds, comfortably through the night. A Carbon Battery (350 charge) can handle up to 6 devices and still have margin.

The Wiring Order Connect in this exact sequence: Wall Socket → Plug Strip → Battery → Device. The Plug Strip splits one wall socket into multiple independent battery branches. Never put the Plug Strip after the battery — that forces all devices to share one battery's limited charge. Never daisy-chain batteries in series; each battery should feed its own set of devices from a Plug Strip upstream.

Energy Brick Crafting The Makeshift Battery requires an Energy Brick: 1 Power Supply Unit + 1 Circuit Board + 1 Tech Scrap + 1 Case Fan. Power Supply Units and Circuit Boards are common Office Sector loot (computers, desks). Case Fans drop from broken electronics. Tech Scrap is everywhere.

Priority by Branch Split your devices into at least three independent branches, each with its own battery:

1. Food branch — Refrigerator only. Highest priority. If this dies, your food rots.
2. Utility branch — Crafting Bench (see Crafting Bench upgrades), lights, chargers. Runs quality-of-life tasks.
3. Defense branch — Tesla Coils, Chopinators, Portal Suppression Field. Must stay armed overnight.

Lever Control Wire a Lever between the battery and nonessential devices. Flip it off during the day to save charge for nighttime. Photosensitive switches can automate this for lighting — they cut power when ambient light is high.

Step-by-Step

1. Find a wall power outlet near your planned base. Cafeteria and pool area both have accessible sockets.
2. Craft an Energy Brick first (Power Supply Unit + Circuit Board + Tech Scrap + Case Fan), then a Makeshift Battery.
3. Wire: Wall Socket → Plug Strip → Makeshift Battery → Refrigerator as your first powered circuit.
4. Add a second battery branch from the same Plug Strip for your Crafting Bench and one lamp.
5. Upgrade to an Industrial Battery (100 charge) for the food branch — 500 seconds runtime is ample for the 270-second night.
6. Add a third branch for defenses once you have Tesla Coils or Chopinators.
7. Place a Lever between the battery and nonessential devices; flip it off during daytime.
8. Test overnight: charge all batteries during the day, apply full load, sleep (see sleep and fatigue guide) through the night, check levels at morning.

Common Mistakes

• Plugging devices directly into wall sockets without a battery — everything dies at 9 PM.
• Putting the Plug Strip after the battery instead of before — all devices share one small charge pool.
• Using a Makeshift Battery (50 charge) for the fridge plus a lamp plus the bench — 3 devices drain it in 83 seconds.
• Crafting a Makeshift Battery without first making the Energy Brick — the brick materials are the real bottleneck.
• Not testing overnight before storing rare food or portal loot in a powered fridge.