If your submarine’s reactor in Barotrauma feels sluggish and eats through fuel rods too quickly, it’s time to upgrade its control system. By wiring together a small setup of logic components, you can significantly improve the reactor’s responsiveness and efficiency. This guide walks you through a two-part upgrade: one that improves power responsiveness, and another that boosts fuel efficiency. We’ll also add an optional automatic fire-triggered shutdown system for safety.

---

Components Required

• 2 × Divide Component
• 1 × Multiply Component
• 2 × Memory Component
• 1 × Smoke Detector (optional for safety shutdown)
• 8 × Wires

---

Step 1: Speed Up Turbine Response

This setup allows the reactor to react faster to fluctuating power demands.

Wiring Instructions:

1. Place one Divide Component and one Memory Component.
2. Connect reactor’s Load output to the Divide signal_in_1.
3. Connect Memory Component’s output to Divide signal_in_2.
4. Set your Memory Component value to your sub’s default reactor output / 100.
   • For example, the Orca has a default output of 3500 → 3500 / 100 = 35
5. Clamp the Divide Component to Min = 0 and Max = 100.
6. Connect the Divide output to the Set_Turbine_Output input on the reactor.

Notes:

• Reactor default outputs vary by submarine. Use the Barotrauma wiki or in-game reference to find your ship’s value.
• If you upgrade your reactor via talents or station upgrades (+19% total possible), you may need to adjust the memory value accordingly.

---

Step 2: Improve Fuel Efficiency

This secondary circuit dynamically adjusts the fission rate to match energy needs.

Wiring Instructions:

1. Place a second Memory, Divide, and Multiply component.
2. Set the second Memory value to 75.
3. Connect Memory output to Divide_2 signal_in_1.
4. Connect reactor’s Fuel output to Divide_2 signal_in_2.
5. Clamp Divide_2: Min = 0, Max = 100.
6. Connect Divide_2 output to Multiply signal_in_1.
7. Connect the output from Divide_1 (from Step 1) to Multiply signal_in_2.
8. Connect Multiply output to Set_Fission_Rate on the reactor.

This circuit ensures your reactor uses only as much fuel as it needs, cutting unnecessary fission during low-demand periods.

---

Diagram Summary

• Load → Divide_1 → Turbine Output
• Memory_1 → Divide_1 (value = base reactor output ÷ 100)
• Fuel → Divide_2 → Multiply
• Memory_2 (value = 75) → Divide_2
• Divide_1 → Multiply
• Multiply → Fission Rate

---

Optional: Automatic Fire Shutdown

Prevent sabotage or accidental overloads with an auto-shutdown trigger.

Instructions:

1. Place a Smoke Detector near the reactor.
2. Set True output to 1 and False output to [blank].
3. Wire the Smoke Detector output to the Reactor Shutdown input.

When fire is detected, the reactor will shut down automatically. Be sure to hide this setup well to prevent griefing from curious crewmates.

---

Final Notes

With this setup:

• Your reactor responds faster to power demands
• Fuel consumption is reduced significantly
• You have built-in failsafe options for fire detection

Once complete, disable the default automatic controller, insert fresh fuel rods, and enjoy a far more efficient and stable reactor system.

Let your engineer take pride in a smarter, cleaner submarine system. And maybe, just maybe, enjoy that cup of tea while the deep hum of stable power runs quietly in the background.

Until next time—stay powered and stay safe.