Civilization: Beyond Earth created by Firaxis Games.
Images used for educational purposes only.
Civilization: Beyond Earth Walkthrough Listing

The closest Civilization: Beyond Earth gets to the city states of Civilization V, stations are a staple of virtually every match you’ll play in the game. Small, contained locations that are used strictly for trade, stations are present to make your life a bit easier - though rely on one too much and you may be in for some pain down the line.

What are Stations?

Stations are single-hexagon locations that touch down periodically during the first hundred or so turns of a game of Beyond Earth (dependent on your pacing, of course). They typically show up on the outskirts of cities, and follow some of the same rules:
  • Stations will not appear within three hexagons of one of your cities, and you cannot build a city within three hexagons of a station.
  • Stations have defensive scores, and can be attacked and destroyed.
  • You can trade with stations and receive additional resources.
All that said, stations are also rather different from cities:
  • A station’s influence will never grow past a single hexagon.
  • Stations do not produce units, and can’t really defend themselves.
  • You cannot conquer a station. Attacking a station will wipe it out.
  • Stations will occasionally pull up roots and leave the planet, particularly if no one is trading with them. They’re also much more vulnerable to attack, so don’t be surprised for stations to suddenly, mysteriously vanish from the map with little to no explanation.
  • Stations do not follow the same trading rules as cities. More on that below.
In games where other players are plentiful, you won’t see stations popping in too often, nor will their resources be that useful (assuming you aren’t at war with everyone, anyway). In smaller games where there’s lots of space, however, stations will be plentiful, and they’ll probably constitute a decent portion of your colony’s economic backbone.

A Trade Convoy in motion. Trade Convoys are needed to trade with stations.
A Trade Convoy in motion. Trade Convoys are needed
to trade with stations.
Trade

A station’s primary use stems from trade. Once your cities have a Trade Depot you can use your city’s Trade Routes to conduct business with stations, just as you would any other city. This can be done using either Trade Convoys or Trade Vessels, depending on how you’re separated from the station (more often you’ll be using the Convoys). As ever, there are some differences between trade with stations and trade with normal cities:
  • On average you will not make as much from stations as you will from foreign cities, at least not after a while. Your dependence on stations will probably wane over time.
  • Because stations offer no safe territory or protective units, trading with them can be a fair bit riskier, especially before your traders have the ability to avoid Alien attacks completely. 
  • Each station only allows for one trading partner. Period. If you really want to patronize a station, jump on it early before another civilization beats you to the punch.
  • Each time you successfully trade with a station (two trips of a trader) the station will reach a new tier of power, and some bonuses in the process. Consequently, station bonuses will get stronger over time. There are three resource tiers available for each station; past that they’ll only offer more resources if you receive tertiary bonuses tied to trade in general.
A Quest dedicated to choosing between two stations. One will appear near the player; the other will not.
A Quest dedicated to choosing between two stations.
One will appear near the player; the other will not.
Quests

Though stations don’t figure too prominently into Quests and decision-making, there are two Quests (used loosely in one case) that you can embark upon on behalf of stations:
  • First, more frequent, you’ll be asked to choose between two stations. You won’t get them both. The station you choose will then land on the outskirts of your colony. This only happens for stations that are intent on landing near your borders; others will just pop down without permission. Note that it’s still possible for the station you did not choose to appear elsewhere on the map. You’re given an overview of each station’s first tier bonuses, so choose wisely.
  • Second, you can receive a request from one station to take out a rival nearby. Accept to receive a hearty bonus from the applicant. Destroying a station will rob you of its trading potential forever, though, so take this Quest only after due consideration.
Station Strategy

On the surface, stations are pretty simplistic. That said, there are always some strategies that you can apply to the things to make them more useful:
  • Establish trade relationships with stations early. This will allow you to quickly maximize the bonuses they offer while building up resources. 
  • Don’t rely on stations unless you absolutely must. Their bonuses are decent, but far-off cities will invariably offer greater dividends. The trade routes will also last longer.
  • Utilize nearby stations. Ones that are far off will endanger your trading vessels, and for no greater profit to boot. Clear the road between your city and the station of Aliens, and try to keep it clear until a) Your trading units are safe from predation, or b) The local Aliens are friendly to everyone in your colony. Yes, there is a difference.
  • Destroy the stations of nearby rivals. You won’t go to war over a destroyed station (hopefully, anyway) but you’ll make their economy nonetheless.
  • Use your cities to block in any stations you particularly like. Properly positioned, you can safely block off a station using your borders. (That said, it may still come under attack from roving Aliens and / or people with whom you share Open Borders. Just saying.)
The Shackleton station.
The Shackleton station. Shackleton provides Culture, Production, and Science.
List of Stations

Below is a more-or-less comprehensive listing of the stations in Civilization: Beyond Earth. Please note that, although I’m pretty sure I have all of the stations listed already, I do not yet have information on all of the tier bonuses. I’ll edit those bonuses in as I get ‘em.

Adept Blue
  • Tier 1 - 2 Food, 2 Science
  • Tier 2 - 3 Food, 4 Science
  • Tier 3 -
Banu Musa
  • Tier 1 - 4 Science
  • Tier 2 - 6 Science
  • Tier 3 - 
Camp Cascade
  • Tier 1 - 2 Food, 2 Energy
  • Tier 2 - 3 Food, 3 Energy
  • Tier 3 - 5 Food, 5 Energy
Church of Dawn’s Light
  • Tier 1 - 1 Food, 3 Culture
  • Tier 2 - 2 Food, 4 Culture
  • Tier 3 -
Far Base One
  • Tier 1 - 2 Energy, 2 Science
  • Tier 2 - 4 Energy, 2 Science
  • Tier 3 -
Fort Barca
  • Tier 1 - 2 Energy, 2 Production
  • Tier 2 - 3 Energy, 4 Production
  • Tier 3 -
Golden Bell Temple
  • Tier 1 - 1 Food, 1 Energy, 2 Culture
  • Tier 2 - 2 Food, 2 Energy, 3 Culture
  • Tier 3 - 3 Food, 3 Energy, 4 Culture
Hekima Station
  • Tier 1 - 3 Food, 1 Culture
  • Tier 2 - 4 Food, 2 Culture
  • Tier 3 - 
Jinsoku Labs
  • Tier 1 - 2 Science, 2 Production
  • Tier 2 - 3 Science, 3 Production
  • Tier 3 - 5 Science, 5 Production
Keagungan
  • Tier 1 - 2 Culture, 2 Science
  • Tier 2 - 2 Culture, 4 Science
  • Tier 3 - 
Lalibela
  • Tier 1 - 4 Culture
  • Tier 2 - 6 Culture
  • Tier 3 -
New Babylon
  • Tier 1 - 1 Energy, 3 Culture
  • Tier 2 - 2 Energy, 4 Culture
  • Tier 3 - 4 Energy, 5 Culture
Omoikane
  • Tier 1 - 4 Food
  • Tier 2 - 6 Food
  • Tier 3 -
Palatine

  • Tier 1 - 4 Culture
  • Tier 2 - 6 Culture
  • Tier 3 -

Red Sun
  • Tier 1 - 4 Energy
  • Tier 2 - 6 Energy
  • Tier 3 - 10 Energy
Shackleton
  • Tier 1 - 1 Culture, 1 Production, 2 Science
  • Tier 2 - 2 Culture, 2 Production, 3 Science
  • Tier 3 - 3 Culture, 3 Production, 4 Science
Stet Mining
  • Tier 1 - 4 Production
  • Tier 2 -
  • Tier 3 -