Successfully exploring new planets in Astroneer requires more than just enthusiasm. You need proper planning, an effective strategy, and the right equipment. This guide provides a list of items and resources that will make your interplanetary travel, exploration, mining, and base-building operations more efficient and easier.
1. Reliable Transportation
Traveling to and from different planets requires a reliable and well-stocked shuttle.
- Large Shuttle: A Large Shuttle has ample storage for resources and several slots for a player to place other critical items.
- Hydrazine Thruster: The solid fuel thruster will regularly have you getting caught out with its limited range. The Hydrazine thruster can make 50 journeys when you fill it with 3 tanks of Hydrazine fuel. It is always good to bring some spare tanks if you get stuck. They only take up 1 small storage space which makes this thruster a must-have.
2. Suitable Survival Gear
The right type of survival gear makes exploring planetary surfaces significantly more manageable.
- Portable Oxygenator: Useful to generate oxygen when venturing far from your shuttle or base. This will require you to bring a device to power it but it’s a lot easier than carrying around lots of tethers.
- Worklight: Helps in dark areas, especially underground while mining. Your suit comes with a light by default but the worklight gives you much more.
3. Effective Exploration Tools
Exploration of planetary surfaces may lead to areas inaccessible on foot or by rover.
- Jetpack: Great for navigating difficult terrain and reaching high-up places. This can also be an incredible resource to help you find your way home if you get lost.
- Rover with a Drill and Paver: An ideal tool for covering long distances on the ground and preparing the terrain for base building. The drill and paver turn the rover into a tunnel-boring machine.
4. Mining Equipment
Having efficient mining tools can make resource-gathering operations significantly more productive.
- Drill Mod: Essential for boring effectively into the ground to reach buried resources.
- Canister: Important for storing soil while drilling and creating terrain with the terrain tool.
5. Base Building & Storage Materials
Before embarking on your trip, be prepared with some crucial base-building materials.
- Large Platforms: Necessary to place and connect your machines and storage units.
- RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator): A compact and reliable power source for your new base.
- Large/Medium Printer: Useful for printing items like Buggy, Large Storage, and other platforms in situ.
- Large Resource Canister: This canister can hold up to 400 units of a single resource type. Having a couple of Large Resource Canisters on your shuttle or rover can greatly streamline transportation and storage.
- Trade Platform: While not directly involved in crafting materials, the Trade Platform can be invaluable in obtaining specific resources that are rare or difficult to find. You can trade Scrap gathered from shredding debris for required resources not readily available on the planet you’re exploring.
6. Navigation Aids
When exploring, there’s always the risk of getting lost.
- Beacons: Useful to mark points of interest or your path back to your base.
- Compass: Essential for determining your current direction and spotting your base or shuttle icon.
7. High-End Machines
Here are some essential machines that facilitate the creation of composite materials and refined resources:
- Smelting Furnace: One of the earliest and most crucial pieces of machinery, the Smelting Furnace is used to refine raw materials into valuable resources, such as refining Laterite into Aluminum and Malachite into Copper.
- Chemistry Lab: This advanced machine produces composite resources using a combination of different materials, such as creating Aluminum Alloy using Aluminum and Copper or Rubber combining Organic and Resin.
- Atmospheric Condenser: The Atmospheric Condenser allows you to capture and extract gases present in a planet’s atmosphere. These gases, like Argon, Helium, and Hydrogen, play essential roles in crafting advanced materials in the Chemistry Lab.
- Soil Centrifuge: Another useful piece of equipment, the Soil Centrifuge, allows you to extract primary resources such as Resin, Compound, Organic, and others from the soil you collect while terraforming.
These are just examples of the items which can aid you in your Astroneer explorations. Equip yourself according to your needs, the planet you are visiting, and the goals you have in mind for your expedition. Preparation is key to a successful planetary expedition!
