Resources Complete Guide — Ores, Alloys, Relics & Endgame Materials

What Resources Exist and What Are They For?

First time I opened the game, I stared at a wall of mineral names and had no idea what was valuable and what was filler. Is silicon important? Can iron and copper share a line? Let me save you the confusion.

Resources come in four tiers — the higher the tier, the rarer and lower-volume:

T1: Basic Ores (Everywhere)

Iron Ore

• Source: Mining Drill on any asteroid
• Use: Everything — base building material, Iron Plates, basic parts
• Availability: ★★★★★ everywhere
• Advice: Put your first drill on the nearest asteroid. Don’t go hunting for better deposits yet.

Copper Ore

• Source: Mining Drill on asteroids
• Use: Circuit boards, power infrastructure
• Availability: ★★★★☆ still very common
• Advice: Start iron first, then copper. You’ll need about half as much copper as iron early on.

Silicon Ore

• Source: Mining Drill on special marked asteroids
• Use: Microchips, tech components
• Availability: ★★★☆☆ need to look for it
• Mistake I made: Mixing silicon and iron on the same line causes jams. Run a separate silicon line. Trust me.

T2: Processed Materials (Through Smelter/Assembler)

Basic Processing Chain

Iron Ore → [Smelter] → Iron Ingot
Copper Ore → [Smelter] → Copper Ingot
Silicon Ore → [Smelter] → Silicon Crystal

Iron Ingot + Copper Ingot → [Advanced Smelter] → Steel Alloy
Iron Ingot + Silicon Crystal → [Assembler] → Circuit Board

T3: High-Tech Materials (Gets Complicated Here)

Circuit Board

• Recipe: Iron Ingot x2 + Silicon Crystal x1
• Use: Every advanced building needs these
• Target throughput: 10-15 units/sec
• Experience: This will be your biggest bottleneck in mid-game. Prioritize circuit board production over everything else when you hit that stage.

Alloy Plate

• Recipe: Steel Alloy x3 + Copper Ingot x1
• Use: Armor, ship construction
• Target throughput: 5-8 units/sec
• Tip: You don’t need these early, but ship construction demands them in bulk. Pre-building the line doesn’t hurt.

Fuel Rod

• Recipe: Uranium Ore x2 (requires Chemical Plant)
• Use: Small Reactor fuel
• ⚠️ Caution: Uranium ore only appears on asteroids with the radiation icon. Automate the mining remotely — don’t fly over there yourself without protection.

T4: Exotic Materials (Endgame Pursuits)

Alien Relic

• Source: Exploring new planets / beating wormhole invaders
• Use: Powerful upgrades, armed drone unlocks
• Rarity: Inconsistent but not unobtainable
• Advice: Hoard every one you find. Don’t spend them on non-essential upgrades. Endgame will demand way more than you expect.

Antimatter

• Unlock: Tech → Antimatter Tech (lategame)
• Production: Large Particle Collider (needs to be built first)
• Use: Ark ship core component
• Rarity: Endgame material, no rush

Helium-3

• Source: Gas Collector on gas giant planets
• Use: Fusion Reactor fuel
• Rarity: Planet-specific — need to find a gas giant
• Tip: Send a scout ship to find gas giants before you start planning fusion power

Planet Resource Quick Reference

Resource FAQs

Q: What’s silicon for? I have a pile and don’t know what to do with it.

Silicon → Silicon Crystal → Circuit Boards. Every advanced building in mid-game needs tons of circuit boards. Silicon isn’t your early-game star, but late-game you can’t build anything without it. Dedicate a separate line.

Q: Iron ore runs out — what then?

Asteroid deposits aren’t infinite. Drill long enough and it depletes. Mid-game, send scout ships regularly to find new deposits. My strategy: 2 drills per deposit, leave one slot open for future Advanced Smelter. When the deposit runs dry, pack up and move to the next.

Q: How do I know if a planet has rare ores?

Build a Telescope → launch a scan satellite. Scan results show mineral types and density per planet. UI displays ore icons with estimated reserves. No Telescope yet? Send a scout ship to check manually.

Q: What’s the right copper-to-iron ratio?

From my testing, roughly 2:1 iron to copper. Iron demand is heavy across everything. Copper’s main use is circuit boards. 2 iron drills to 1 copper drill early on — that ratio stays stable for a while.

Q: How do I mine uranium safely?

Radiation damages your character on approach. Two methods: ① Build a full mini production line on the radiation-zone asteroid (drill + smelter + container), operate from your station remotely. ② Wear a hazmat suit and fly over manually — risky and easy to forget your suit.

Q: What are Alien Relics actually for?

Unlock powerful upgrade modules + Ark core materials. Don’t sell them (there’s no sell function, but don’t throw them away either). Hoard them. Endgame will make you glad you did.

Q: Can’t find Helium-3?

Only gas giants produce it. Send scout ships to explore the upper-right quadrant of your star map — gas giant density is higher there. Place one Gas Collector and it auto-collects.

Q: Too many materials, storage is full?

Upgrade to Storage II tech. Add more containers at production line endpoints. Also: use wormholes to separate storage by planet so you’re not piling everything in one place.

Processing Chain Cheat Sheet