Probes in Idle Planet Miner offer a unique, long-term way to boost your game by scanning planets and granting bonuses like increased mining, cargo, or shipping speeds. While subtle at first, they can become surprisingly powerful as you invest resources into upgrading them. If you’d like to explore related mechanics, check out our guides on debris usage and colonization strategies, which synergize well with probe planning.
What Is a Probe & How It Works
The Space Probe is activated using Holo Bolts, usually acquired during Events, and grants temporary bonuses to a single planet. A completed scan typically boosts mining, shipping, or cargo by around 4%—with improved upgrades enhancing these percentages. Once a scan ends, the probe immediately starts scanning again, allowing for continuous enhancement unless you redirect it.
Upgrading Your Probe
Probes can be upgraded via both the Probe Hangar (with Holo Bolts) and the Space Station (with Energy Cells). Early benefits are minimal, but with upgrades, scan bonuses can become more impactful.
Upgrades also unlock secondary manager skill bonuses, which are permanent galactic boosts. Though incremental (e.g., turning a 1.2× multiplier into 1.201×), these bonuses stack further with successive upgrades and scans — especially when used alongside managers assigned to scanned planets.
Strategic Use Tips
- Set and forget: Since probe bonuses reset when you sell your galaxy, there’s little harm in letting a probe run continuously on a single planet.
- Start small: Early scans offer only minor boosts, so don’t pour excessive resources into them initially.
- Layer secondary boosts: Assign a manager whose secondary stats align with scan bonuses (e.g., crafting, mining) to a probe-scanned planet, letting both benefits compound.
- Scale with upgrades: As scan power increases with upgrades, revisit your probes—what was once cosmetic can turn into a valuable passive multiplier.
What to Avoid
- Over-investing too early: Since benefits reset with each galaxy sale, heavy early investment offers limited returns.
- Ignoring other progression paths: Probes are a late-game enhancement. Prioritize core loops—like short galaxy resets, resources, and mothership upgrades—before probe optimization.
- Minimal early ROI: Until upgraded, scan bonuses are modest and largely random, offering limited strategic benefit in the early game.
Final Thoughts
Probes offer a nuanced, passive boost opportunity that grows in value over time—especially when layered with strategic upgrades and manager synergy. Let them run, invest gradually, and don’t let them distract from the core progression mechanics of short resets and mothership upgrades. Viewed as a long-term perk, probes can amplify your empire without demanding intense attention.