====== Certus Quartz ======

^ Author | Applied Energistics Team |
^ Category | Storage & Automation |

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Certus Quartz is a core resource in AE2. It is grown from **Budding Certus Quartz** blocks, similar to how Amethyst buds grow.

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===== Growth and Harvesting =====
  * Buds sprout from **Budding Certus Quartz**.
  * Breaking before maturity drops **Certus Quartz Dust** (fortune has no effect).
  * Breaking a fully grown **Cluster** drops 4 **Certus Quartz Crystals** (fortune increases yield).

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===== Budding Block Tiers =====

| Tier       | Behavior                  | Notes |
|------------|---------------------------|-------|
| **Flawless** | Never degrades            | Infinite certus supply. Cannot be crafted or mined, only moved with **Spatial Storage**. |
| **Flawed**   | Can degrade when buds grow | Will eventually break down into plain **Certus Quartz Block**. |
| **Chipped**  | Same as flawed, weaker    | |
| **Damaged**  | Weakest form, fastest degradation | |

**Degradation**  
Every time a bud grows to the next stage, the budding block has a chance to drop one tier until it becomes a normal Certus Quartz Block.

**Repair/Creation**  
Toss the budding block (or a normal Certus Quartz Block) into **water** with one or more **Charged Certus Quartz Crystals** to repair or convert.

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===== Growth Speed =====
  * Buds grow very slowly by default.
  * **Growth Accelerators** placed adjacent to budding blocks massively speed up growth.
  * Early-game option: power them with a **Wooden Crank** if you don’t yet have an **Energy Acceptor** or **Vibration Chamber**.


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===== Automation =====

Automatic harvesting uses **ME Annihilation Planes** and **ME Storage Busses**:

  * **Annihilation Plane** breaks clusters automatically.
  * **Storage Bus (filtered)** ensures only **Certus Quartz Crystals** are accepted.
  * **Growth Accelerators** make the process fast enough for continuous supply.

**Note:** Non-mature buds drop Certus Quartz Dust instead of nothing, making filtering reliable.

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===== Example Automated Setup =====

**Configuration:**
  - **ME Annihilation Plane** – no GUI, can be enchanted with Fortune.
  - **First ME Storage Bus** – filtered to Certus Quartz Crystal, outputs into a barrel.
  - **Second ME Storage Bus** – also filtered to Certus Quartz Crystal, but set to higher priority than main storage.

**Process:**
  - The **Annihilation Plane** attempts to break blocks in front of it.
  - Because the subnet only sees Certus Quartz Crystals (via the filtered Storage Bus), it only breaks **Clusters**, ignoring buds.
  - The first Storage Bus pushes harvested Crystals into the barrel.
  - The second Storage Bus shares those Crystals with the main network but keeps them preferentially in the barrel due to priority.

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===== Semi-Auto and Advanced Farms =====
  * With **Flawless Budding Certus** – farm runs indefinitely without maintenance.
  * With **Flawed/Chipped/Damaged Budding Certus** – blocks will eventually break and must be replaced, either manually or with advanced setups.