Things you need to build other things, whether by hand or using machines.
Most materials have a classification that defines what it is and what it can be used for; when a construction can be made from Metal, for example, this means that any Metal, including raw materials and alloys, will work. The classifications are:
Ore is your main objective. You can send any unprocessed ore to the quartermaster to sell, and certain ores will also be useful to the roboticist and to yourself to upgrade your equipment. The arc smelter also requires a steady stream of raw materials. Each ore carries a basic toughness that corresponds to the tool needed to mine it. Certain ores are dangerous and require special care. If you plan to sell them, remember that raw ore (i.e. not a block or ingot) is often more valuable than processed alloys.
Note: The majority of ore and gems won't be usable in the mining fabricator unless you process them with a reclaimer first.
| Name | Classification | Toughness | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | Metal | 2 | Decent money maker, but no real practical use. If you're a straggler stuck with nothing but a pick and barren fabricators, this is your breadwinner. |
| Platinum | Metal | 4 | Very difficult to mine without explosives and practically useless for crafting, but worth a king's ransom to the quartermaster. |
| Copper | Metal, Conductor | 1 | Very useful for roboticists and makes up half of a mining charge. If you like bombing rocks, this will be the first mineral to run out. |
| Steel | Sturdy Metal | 1 | The roboticist makes his friends out of this stuff, so he'll go through a lot. Makes up one quarter of a mining charge. |
| Crystal Glass (Molitz?) | Crystal | 1 | Space glass! Another useful material for the roboticist. Makes up the last quarter of a mining charge. |
| Adamantium / Bohrum | Dense Metal, Dense Matter | 3 | Space adamantium! The backbone of higher tier mining equipment, you'll want a lot of this in your fabricator to make anything worthwhile. |
| Cerenkite | Metal, Power Source | 3 | Space asbestos! Horribly radioactive, digging in without a heavy hazard suit is a slow suicide. Occupies the same fabricator niche as plasmastone, but specializes in very desirable cyborg power cells instead of high-yield bombs. |
| Plasmastone | Crystal, Power Source | 2 | Space fuel! Explodes violently if shocked by mining charge, so stick to drills. A few top-shelf mining goodies want this, but it's most useful refined into extra fuel in the engineering ore distiller or stuffed inside pipebombs. |
| Claretine | High Energy Conductor | 3 | Space MgB²! Required in bulk for all high-performance digging gear and industrial armor, the two most desirable things on a miner's wish list. |
| Gold | High Density Matter | 4 | Space gold! As you'd imagine, the QMs would love to get their hands on a shipment. Curiously, unlike other ores, gold is sold to the market as ingots, not its raw ore form. |
| Koshmarite | Metal, High Density Matter | 2 | Eldritch granite! A magical substitute for uqill, and a very sturdy one at that. |
| Viscerite | Not construction-grade material (Animal Matter) | 2 | Martian meat! Can be turned into fibres with the auto-loom and used as raw material for the cloning apparatus, but isn't usable in the reclaimer, mining fabricator or the arc smelter. |
| Char | Not construction-grade material | -1 | Space coal! Prime furnace fuel and secondary trade good for the quartermaster. |
| Ice | Not construction-grade material | -2 | Space water ice! Also completely worthless. Will melt when you are holding it in your hand for too long. |
| Rock | Not construction-grade material | 1 | Space dirt! Completely worthless unless you're a rock worm. However, rock worms are known to frequent the trading circles, so the QM probably won't mind if a few lumps end up in your latest cobryl dispatch. |
Gems are rare and valuable. A mined rock may contain only 1 gem at a time. Use your geological scanner to find gems quickly. If you plan to sell them, remember that raw gems are often more valuable than processed alloys.
| Name | Classification | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Gemstone | Crystal | Space jewels that come in three tiers (level 1 being the hardest and most valuable). Regardless of type, they're primarily good for money only. Slip them inside cash ore shipments. Tier 1: diamond, ruby, topaz, emerald, sapphire, amethyst Tier 2: jasper, garnet, peridot, malachite, lapis lazuli, alexandrite Tier 3: onyx, rose quartz, citrine, jade, aquamarine, iolite |
| Telecrystal | Crystal, High Energy Power Source | Shiny cones that let you break the laws of physics. Can be used in some machinery, for cyborg upgrades and be sold off for a good sum. No, you can't use them to get more Syndicate gear. |
| Fibrilith | Not construction-grade material | Space silk. Can be processed into fabric with an auto-loom or used in the arc smelter. Raw lumps of the stuff fetch a good price on the open market, though. |
| Uqill | High Density Matter | Crystallized scifi magic. Required for high-end mining gear, certain upgrades at robotics, always sells well at the cargo bay, and can be used to make replacement ammo for the RCD. |
| Miracle Matter | Anomalous | Mineral wild card. Can be used as a stand-in for certain other materials, e.g. uqill, mauxite or claretine. Can morph into different substances at welder-level temperatures. Makes excellent decor. |
Certain rocks may have special conditions on them. Using your geological scanner will give specific information and spit out symbols denoting these conditions.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Icy | |
| Super Dense | Has a hardness rating of 10 and is extremely difficult to break through. Super-dense asteroids tend to have a significant quantity of gems at their core, so the effort can be justified. |
| Weak | Rock has -1 toughness. |
| Dense | Rock has +1 toughness. |
| Hazardous | Rock contains either radioactive or volatile ore. Radioactive rock will glow blueish once exposed. Volatile ore will glow red when struck, giving you only a few moments to escape. |
| Foreign Object | Contains a smuggler stash, an artifact or a sleeping rock worm. Poke it with the scanner to find out what. |
| Gem | Rock contains a gem. No reason not to crack it open. |
These materials almost never are found in asteroids, but you may encounter them when working with the arc smelter or a reclaimer.
| Name | Classification | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Erebite | Power Source | The Devil's plasmastone. As dangerous as it is rare, it makes a menacing pipebomb or an extremely fast-charging cyborg cell. Only available through the QM shipping market. |
| Starstone | Crystal | Extremely valuable, but it's unlikely you'll find one except after a meteor shower has hit the station or the mining magnet discovers a rare starstone asteroid. Sell them to certain merchants to become an instant millionaire! Can also be used to infuse certain chemicals into metals and alloys. |
| Slag | Metal, Sturdy Metal | By-product of smelting and a low-quality substitute for mauxite. |
| Steel | Metal, Sturdy Metal | The processed equivalent of mauxite. |
| Glass | Crystal | The processed equivalent of molitz. |
Most equipment can be manufactured at the mining fabricator. This includes your basic beginning gear if you lose it or show up late and all of it is gone.
Note: The majority of ore and gems won't be usable in the mining fabricator unless you process them with a reclaimer first.
Item Image Description Cost Engineering Space Suit Set Space suit.png See Engineering Objects. 3 Fabric, 3 Metal, 2 Crystal
Jetpack Jetpack.png See Engineering Objects. 2 Dense Metal, 10 Conductive Material
Mining Belt MiningBelt.png Holds most of the gear and equipment you will need to mine. N/A
Geological Scanner GeologicalScanner.png Use the scanner in your active hand to scan all rocks in view. The scanner will spit out a report and put symbols on rocks with something out of the ordinary in them. Using it on a piece of asteroid will tell you specifically what ore is present, its toughness, any danger conditions, and the presence of any foreign items. 1 Metal, 1 Conductive Material, 1 Crystal
Ore Satchel Satchel.png Holds up to 30 units of ore. To quickly pick up ore, click and drag one piece onto the satchel and you will automatically begin grabbing all ore of that type in every space surrounding you. Clicking the satchel in your active hand will dump its contents onto the ground. Use it on a fabricator or crate to empty it into that container. 5 Fabric
Ore Scoop OreScoop.png This very useful utensil allows you to collect ore by merely walking over it. Simply insert an ore satchel, hold the scoop in your active hand and you're good to go. Click on the scoop to unload the satchel, or anywhere else to dump the ore on the floor. N/A
540-280THz Attenuation Goggles Mesons.png See Engineering Objects. Also allows you to see the composition of asteroids. 3 Crystal, 2 Conductive Material
Breath Mask Breathmask.png See Clothing. Required for full spacesuit gear. 1 Fabric
Item Image Description Cost Industrial Space Armor Set IndustrialArmour.png Replaces the standard spacesuit and helmet. It provides protection against radiation and explosions. 15 Dense Metal, 7 High Energy Conductor, 3 High Density Matter
Mechanized Boots MechanizedBoots.png Gives the wearer a permanent speed boost, both in space and indoors. Moving around quickly will also deplete the contents of your jetpack faster, so be careful. 15 Sturdy Metal, 7 High Energy Conductor, 3 Power Source
Large Ore Satchel Satchel.png Like a regular satchel, but holds 75 ore instead of 30. 25 Fabric, 3 Dense Metal
Cargo Transporter Cargotransporter.png Sends stuff to a cargo pad. Use it in your active hand to pick a destination, then click on the target to teleport it. Has 10 uses before it must be recharged.
Compatible objects: crates, closets/lockers, gas canisters, large tanks and artifacts. N/A
Flashlight Flashlight.png See General Objects. Provides additional light if you opt to go exploring derelicts and other foreboding parts of space, but useless for mining. 1 Metal, 1 Conductive Material, 1 Crystal
Material Analyzer MaterialAnalyzer.png Shows the properties of raw as well as processed ore. N/A
Slag Shovel SlagShovel.png Used to remove slag from the arc smelter. N/A
The greater the difference between tool strength and rock hardness, the more difficult it is to tunnel through the asteroid. Equipment with a strength at least equal to the rock's hardness rating is guaranteed to work on the first try.
Item Image Toughness Notes Cost Pickaxe Pickaxe.png 1 You get this when your powered pickaxe runs out of juice. Utterly useless. 1 Sturdy Metal
Powered Pickaxe Powerpickaxe.png 2 Starting equipment. Has 30 uses before it must be recharged. 2 Sturdy Metal, 5 Conductive Material
Laser Drill Laserdrill2.png 3 Has infinite charge. 15 Sturdy Metal, 7 Dense Metal, 10 High Energy Conductor
Power Hammer Powerhammer2.png 4 Holds 30 charges. Also available from the quartermaster. 1 High Density Matter, 8 Conductive Material
Concussive Gauntlets ConcussionGauntlets.png 4 Worn on your hands and allows you to simply punch rocks with an empty hand. Infinite charges. Also increase your basic punching damage a bit. 15 Dense Metal, 15 High Energy Conductor, 2 Power Source
Low-Yield Mining Explosives MiningCharge32.png N/A Plant on an asteroid to produce a small concussive blast. Will break nearby rocks and weaken rocks at the edge of its blast. Has a 5 second countdown. Starting equipment and can be made in the fabricator in sets of 5. 3 Metal, 3 Crystal, 7 Conductive Material
Mining Explosive MiningCharge32.png N/A A stronger variant of the mining explosive, also in packs of 5. 7 Metal, 7 Crystal, 15 Conductive Material
In addition to these tools, you also design your own mining equipment using parts from the Mining Nanofabricator.
Item Notes Cost Mining Tool A tool for mining asteroids. Type of tool depends on components used. Optional modifier slot. (10) Metal, (1) Mining Tool Head, (1) Optional Mod
Tool head (Drill) A Drill head. Goes 3 tiles forward and can break down rock in a couple of hits, depending on the material used. (5) Material
Tool head (Hammer) A Hammer head. Goes 3 tiles wide and can break down rock in a couple of hits, depending on the material used. (5) Material
Tool head (Blaster) A Blaster head. Goes 2 tiles forward in a T-shape, but takes a lot of hits to break a rock. (5) Material
Tool head (Pick) A Pick head. Hits only one tile, but can break rock in just one or two hits, even with softer materials. (5) Material
Tool mod (Concussive) A mod for mining tools that increases Area of Effect. Concussive drills will hit a 3×4 tile area forward, concussive hammers will hit 5×4 area roughly centered on the wielder. (45) Radioactive Material, (1) Explosive Charge
Large mining machines can be used to harvest or process great deals of ore.
Item Image Description Cost Mining Magnet MineralMagnetSmall.png This large, immobile magnet pulls in asteroid you can mine. For further information, see Miner. N/A
Mining Magnet Replacement Parts ElectronicProject.png Required to repair the mineral magnet in case of catastrophic damage. Use it on the chassis. 5 High Density Matter, 30 Dense Metal, 30 High Energy Conductor
Arc Smelter ArcSmelter2.png Ore can also be processed into alloys with various properties. For more information, refer to Ore Processing. N/A
Auto-Loom.png Workbench.png See Ore Processing. N/A
Mining Pod Miningpod.png Provided they've been upgraded with the right gear, pods can be a great asset for the miners. Please see Space Pod for more information. N/A
Mineral Accumulator MineralAccumulator.png Allows you to send large quantities of ore to a cargo pad. To use, select a destination first, drag the accumulator to the desired location and then turn it on. Any loose ore within an eight-tile radius will be pulled to the device and teleported to the cargo pad. Must be turned off before it can be moved again. The accumulator cannot be picked up, only dragged around.
The miners get one accumulator for free at the start of the shift. 25 Sturdy Metal, 15 High Energy Conductor, 2 High Density Matter
Power Cell PowerCell.png See Engineering Objects. 4 Metal, 4 Conductive Material, 4 Any Material
Cerenkite Power Cell CerenkitePowerCell.png A self-recharging power cell that any cyborg would be glad to have. Capacity is 15000. 4 Metal, 4 Any Material, 2 Cerenkite
Erebite Power Cell ErebitePowerCell.png Self-recharges more quickly than the cerenkite cell, but is also highly volatile. Capacity is 15000. 4 Metal, 4 Any Material, 2 Erebite
In addition to ore and gems, you may unearth a variety of interesting objects and critters.
Harmless creatures that will move around, eating up rocks, ore, and gems. If you can manage to kill one, you might get a surprise.
Abandoned crates contain a large variety of goodies not otherwise available on the station. There are two types of locking mechanisms and generally speaking, high-security crates (military supplies for instance) are more difficult to open. A failed attempt will usually reset the code and trigger the anti-theft system (if any), potentially injuring you. Be advised, however, that certain security measures will destroy the crate's contents instead.
Deca-Code Lock: Will prompt you to enter a number between 1 and 10, and you are allowed 3 guesses. To improve your odds of success, you can use a multitool on the crate and it will tell you whether the last code entered was too high or too low.
Password Lock: As the name implies, you'll have to find the password. Enter one letter at a time to attempt to reveal part of it. A multitool is essential here, as it allows you to see the exact length of the password and keep track of the known characters. If you don't feel like opening the crate yourself, check to see if any departments back on the station will be willing to receive it.
Alien Artifacts Large items of unknown origin and purpose. Can be sent to the research wing for artifact research or to the cargo bay for sale.
Other Easter eggs, combat drones, stockings, smuggler's caches… go around and explore!
1 Machines 2 Metal 3 Plasteel 4 Glass 5 Reinforced glass 6 Rods 7 Floor tile 8 Wood 9 Plastic
Autolathe.gif Machines
Some machines use construction materials in their operation. Clicking on such a machine with materials in hand loads those materials into the machine. Unless otherwise stated, each sheet is worth 2000 units of material. List of machines that use construction materials:
Autolathe Circuit Imprinter Destructive Analyzer Exosuit Fabricator Protolathe Metal.png Metal List of things you can make with having metal in your hand and opening the list:
Stool Chair Comfy Chair Office Chair Bed (2 sheets) Table parts (2 sheets) Rack parts Closet (2 sheets) Canisters (10 sheets) 4x Floor tiles 2x Metal rods Computer frame (5 sheets) Wall girders (2 sheets) Airlock assembly (4 sheets) Machine frame (5 sheets) Turret frame (5 sheets) APC frame (2 sheets) grenade casing (1 sheets) Modular console frame (20 sheets) Modular laptop frame (10 sheets) Modular tablet frame (5 sheets) Iron Door (20 sheets) Things you can do with it in your hand:
Finish wall girders into walls. Repair broken walls. Add armor to turret frames. Refill exosuit fabricator, autolathe or protolathe. Metal r.png Plasteel Plasteel is an alloy of hematite, coal, and platinum. Small stacks exist in Engineering, EVA, and Robotics. Shaft Miners have the ability to smelt more. Each sheet contains 3750 metal and 3750 platinum.
List of things you can make with having plasteel in your hand and opening the list:
AI core (4 sheets) Reinforcing and finalizing walls Glass.png Glass one directonal glass panel Full glass panel (2 sheets) Glass Lenses to grenade casings. Refill robotic fabricator. Refill Circuitprinters. Glass shards may be reformed into glass sheets by hitting with a lit Welding Tool. Glass r.png Reinforced glass Reinforced glass is a combination of metal and glass, and is stronger (?) than regular glass. Each sheet contains 1875 metal and 3750 glass.
one directional reinforced glass panel Full reinforced glass panel (2 sheets) Part of AI Core assembling. Adding windows into airlocks. Rods.png Rods Grille (By clicking in your hand) Lattice (For floors) (By clicking on the tile) Kabob Reinforcing tables Reinforcing floors Flamethrower Reinforcing glass into reinforced glass. (Have rods in hand while clicking glass sheet) Can be turned back into metal sheets by being hit with a lit Welding Tool Floor Tiles.png Floor tile Floor Planks.png Wood Obtainable by cutting Tower cap logs with a hatchet.
Wooden Sandals Table parts (2 planks) Wood floor tile (4 with 1 plank) Wooden chair (3 planks) Wooden barricade (5 planks) Wooden door (10 planks) Coffin (5 planks) Bookcase (5 planks) Plastic Plastic Crate (10 sheets) Plastic Ashtray (2 sheets) Plastic Fork (1 sheet) Plastic Spoon (1 sheet) Plastic Knife (1 sheet) Plastic Bag (3 sheets) Blood Bag (4 sheets)