Elerium-115

2025-08-03T00:06:08Z

Chaosshade2638:

'''In other languages: [[엘레리움-115|한국어]].'''

'''Elerium''', otherwise known as element 115, is the energy source for all alien technologies. Mined from reserves near [[Cydonia]], it has a variety of uses. However, it cannot be found on Earth.

"This element has the unusual property of generating anti-matter power when bombarded by certain particles. This creates gravity waves and other forms of energy. It is not naturally found in our solar system and cannot be reproduced." - UFO: Enemy Unknown UFOpaedia

This item appears in ''[[X-COM|UFO: Enemy Unknown]] (1994)'', ''[[Enemy Unknown (EU2012)|XCOM: Enemy Unknown]]'' (2012), and ''[[The Bureau: XCOM Declassified]]''. For the ''[[TFTD|Terror from the Deep]]'' equivalent, refer to [[Zrbite]].

== Stats ==
<table><tr><td>[[Image:BIGOBS56.GIF|left|64 px]]</td><td>
*Size: 1 high x 1 wide
*Weight: 3
*Sell Price: $5000</td></tr></table>

== Obtaining Elerium ==
Elerium cannot be synthesized on Earth; it can only be obtained from [[UFO Assault]]s or [[Alien Base Assault]]s. Elerium is housed within [[UFO Power Source]]s, and is very fragile. If upon starting a UFO assault you find a UFO Power Source to have been destroyed (as a result of a crash landing), its Elerium will surely have been destroyed as well. Be careful about using explosives near intact UFO Power sources, as the Elerium within is easily toasted!

At the end of a successful mission, any Elerium contained within intact UFO Power Sources will be automatically collected and returned to your base. If for some reason you need to end a mission prematurely, you can still collect Elerium by hand, by shooting open a UFO Power Source (generally with a plasma weapon). For more on securing Elerium in this way, see UFO Power Sources.

Perhaps the most efficient way to gain a stock of Elerium is to find an Alien Base and attack the [[Supply ship|Supply Ships]] as they land nearby. Leave the base intact to attract more supply ships, as the Elerium is worth more than the score penalty (150 units per intact Supply Ship). See details [[Supply ship smash and grab|here]].

UFO Power Sources can also be found in ''some'' Alien Bases, if they have a particular base "module". You can raid such a base without having to win the mission, and have a soldier carry the Elerium back to the entry lift and then abort (see [[Alien Base Assault#Smash And Grab]] for more details). Attacking the base's Supply Ships is likely to be a safer and more reliable source of Elerium, however; see [[UFO Recovery Values#Alien Base Assaults]] for more details.

On the map, Elerium appears as a purple ball (the same graphic as a [[Stun Bomb]] on the ground). This object is worth 50 points of Elerium. During [[Base Defence]], some of your own Elerium from stores may appear on the battlescape. This is a Good Thing™ if you win the mission, as each unit is represented as a pod and can be recovered for ''fifty'' units. This is probably a bug and appears to be absent from the Collector's Edition.

== Uses ==
Don't sell Elerium. Although you do have the option to do so, this is to be discouraged. It is used to fuel the [[Firestorm]], the [[Lightning]], and the [[Avenger]]. It is also used, in varying amounts, to [[manufacture]] most [[Alien Artefacts]], [[Flying Suit]]s, and various other technologies. Given that you can only obtain Elerium in the battlefield, selling it is not a good idea. Furthermore, the market price is a real rip-off, it will only fetch you $5,000 per unit. Consider that the highly abundant Alien Alloys are worth $6500 each. Furthermore, which would you rather have, 1 Blaster Bomb or $15,000? 1 Stun Bomb or $5000?

==Other Games==
===Enemy Unknown (2012)===

See [[Elerium (EU2012)]]

===The Bureau===
[[Image:Elerium-ore-The_Bureau.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Raw Elerium ore, as depicted in [[The_Bureau:_XCOM_Declassified|The Bureau]].]]

While not a resource itself in this squad-based shooter, the energy packs serving as ammunition for laser and plasma weaponry almost certainly are Elerium-based power cells. Furthermore, it's stated that the invading alien forces have been on Earth for some measure of time, and have been seeding Elerium into the Earth, to prepare the planet for terraforming operations. Indeed, the first level is in Groom Range, Nevada (AKA: Area 51), where the United States has been conducting research into Elerium technology. We see the Outsiders dropping generator "Seeds" into the ground, which absorb the surrounding Elerium-enriched land, terraforming the areas and using the crushed materials to grow massive Towers that are central to their invasion.

In the first level, which passes through an Elerium Lab, a sample of unprocessed Elerium can be seen bouncing violently inside a containment unit: a green glowing substance, caked with dark brown clods. It is unclear whether this is pure Elerium in it's true form, or the result of Elerium contaminted with local earth (or vice versa).

== Element 115 in reality ==
In 1979, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry recommended the name ''ununpentium'' (Uup) be used of the then-unconfirmed element 115. It was only created briefly in atomic laboratories in 2004. Research in 2013 again [http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/28/world/europe/new-chemical-element/ confirmed] its existence, but it does not appear to be the subject of much research. The element was given the name [http://iupac.org/elements.html moscovium (Mc)] in late 2016, with the naming ceremony being held in March 2017.

Element 115's inclusion into UFO mythos –and thus into X-COM's lore– began when UFO 'researcher' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Lazar Robert Lazar] made several [http://www.beyondweird.com/element115.html claims] about E-115 in the 1980's. For example, he claimed that it would be the only element that had a gravitational field extending past its own atomic 'shell'. This deviance from the normal rule would be so significant that perhaps the technologies seen in the X-COM series could become a reality – anti-gravity devices used for both flight and particle acceleration.

However, the basis for Lazar's presumption is based on his misunderstanding (or [http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Element_115 outright lie]) of the relativistic effects involved in large atoms, specifically that of element 83, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismuth bismuth]. The relation to 83 to 115 is based on the fact that some elemental properties of atoms can be predicted based on the number of protons (which define the Atomic Number), reflected in the organizational system of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table Periodic Table]: element 115 would be placed directly below 83 and within the "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_metal Poor Metal]" Series and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pnictogen Group 15] elements, and should hence share some properties.

Thus, 83 was chosen because 115 would be just outside the known, well-researched, and easily acquired elements, but potentially in the theoretical [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_stability Island of Stability]. This puts it in a realm of (conditional) plausibility, but well outside the range of casual experimentation – as opposed to, say, the ease of disproving the "magical" effects of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy homeopathy] or [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_therapy magnetic bracelets].

==See also==
{{Equipment (UFO Defense) Navbar}}

{{UFO Navbar}}
[[Category:Equipment (EU)]]
[[Category: UFO Components]]
[[Category:Research (EU)]]
[[Category:Enemy Unknown/UFO Defense]]

UFO Power Source

2025-08-02T23:51:47Z

Chaosshade2638: /* General Information */

==General Information==
[[Image:UFO_Powersource.gif|right]]The power source of [[UFOs]] is an anti-matter reactor which uses [[Elerium-115]] (element 115) to generate powerful gravity waves as well as other forms of energy. The conversion of matter to energy is an incredible 99% efficient, therefore tiny quantities of Elerium produce a hug amount of power. Power Sources can be [[Manufacturing Profitability|reproduced]] easily using [[Alien Alloys]].

The UFO Power Source is one of the three [[UFO Components]] you must have on hand to manufacture a new ship. It is essentially an engine, and uses [[Elerium-115]] to propel a craft.

A UFO Power Source requires 1400 man-hours to build, $130,000, and the materials Elerium-115 and [[Alien Alloys]]. You can obtain these materials from [[Alien Base Assault|Alien Bases]] and [[UFOs]]. Power Sources can be sold for $250,000.<br clear="all">

This item appears in ''[[X-COM|UFO: Enemy Unknown]]''. For the ''[[TFTD|Terror from the Deep]]'' equivalent, refer to [[Ion-Beam Accelerators]].

<table align = "right" style = "background: #F0F0FF; border: 1px #404080 solid; width: 50%; margin: 1em 1em 1em 1em; padding:4px;"><tr><td> '''Hint:''' Don't bother building them. Salvage them from UFOs. If you choose to sell power units, keep a supply sufficient for any aircraft that you wish to build. A minimum of two PSs are required for an [[Avenger]], and one for a [[Firestorm]] or [[Lightning]].</td></tr></table>

<br clear="all">

== Extracting Elerium from Power Sources ("Milking") ==

Every UFO Power Source that is intact at the beginning of a mission will have Elerium, with the exception of one UFO Power Source found in a particular [[Alien Base Assault|Alien Base]] [[module]]. If a UFO crashes, you will often find that the UFO Power Source(s) stored inside have exploded with great force; for the probability of recovering Elerium from a crashed UFO, see [[UFO Crash Recovery]]. Note that PSs destroyed during play do not detonate.

A UFO Power Source has 50 armour, which means that an explosive needs a damage rating of 100+ HE to destroy it. Weapons that will kill a PS are: the Large Rocket, High Explosive, Hovertank/Launcher, or Blaster.

However, this is NOT the right way to get Elerium out of a Power Source, because explosions affect everything in their square equally, and Elerium itself (an object on the [[Explosions#Object Destruction|ground]]) is destroyed by '''<u>any</u>''' explosive blast over HE 20. (Elerium is not created when the PS dies - it's actually sitting right there and can be seen in the overhead map; you just can't get to it until the Power Source is gone.) The PS is much more resistant to explosions than its Elerium. Compare how you can destroy the Elerium with a standard human Grenade exploding two tiles away, but a standard grenade can't hurt the Power Source even if right on top of it. Clearly, the designers made Elerium a tough nut to get to.

Because of this, you have to use firearms to take out the UFO Power Source surgically, leaving the Elerium behind. PSs have the usual [[Destroying Terrain|terrain damage]] resistance to conventional ammunition types (AP, Laser, and Plasma; a.k.a. firearms only do 25%-75% of listed Strength/[[Damage]], so you need a listed weapon strength of at least 67 (50/.75) to destroy it). The following weapons can breach a PS:
''' Damage Breach'''
'''Weapon Range Chance'''
'''------ ----- ------'''
Plasma Rifle 20-60 26.8%
Heavy Laser 21-63 32.6%
Tank/Laser Cannon 27-82 58.9%
Hovertank/Plasma 27-82 58.9%
Heavy Plasma 28-86 62.7%

This is usually only a concern if you are "milking" an alien base - deliberately not destroying it, so you can revisit it time and time again, and pull out Elerium and other goodies. On the usual UFO or Base raid, you simply kill all aliens, and recover any and all Elerium present anywhere on the map, at the end of the mission.

==See Also==
* [[UFO Recovery Values]]
{{UFO Navbar}}

[[Category: UFO Components]]
[[Category:Research (EU)]]
[[Category:Enemy Unknown/UFO Defense]]

UFOpaedia - User contributions [en]

Elerium-115

UFO Power Source