Starfield Resources and Materials Explained

Starfield is a very large game, with tons of planets to explore. Precisely for this reason, therefore, the Starfield resources and materials that are present in the game world are many and each of them is useful for something, such as building outposts, looking for crafting recipes, modding your gear. However, to be able to do all this, you will need to be in possession of large quantities of resources and materials and therefore, in addition to knowing what they are, you must also know how to find them. In this article, therefore, we will explain how to obtain the resources and materials necessary for your adventure in the Starfield universe.

How can you use resources and materials?

First of all, before continuing to explain how to get them, it is important that you know exactly what they are useful for. Starfield provides players with different types of resources and materials, each of which has its own uses, which may not be so straightforward to understand. However, suffice it to say that most of the resources and materials are used for researching new crafting recipes, building outposts and crafting recipes and mods.

Consequently, our advice is to spend a few skill points on one of the crafting skills present in the game, be it related to outposts, space suits, weapons, gastronomy or chemistry. Choose the branch that best suits you and spend a few skill points, it will certainly come in handy during the work. Otherwise, you may not find the specific use of each single resource, unless you take part in specific missions where you have to collect resources to deliver to some NPC to get rewards.

How to get inorganic resources

Inorganic resources mostly refer to those related to elements on the periodic table and can be found practically everywhere. Obviously, some of them are very simple to find, such as iron, while others will be rarer and therefore more complex, such as mercury. However, while these resources may be found by traders you meet, the best way to get them is to explore and scan everything around you.

Once you have found the inorganic resources you are interested in, they can be harvested in a few different ways. Some of them can be found on rocks or cave walls. Use your scanner to see where the deposits are and, once found, arm yourself with your Cutting Laser to detach the pieces which will then be automatically added to your inventory. The deposits, which are located in larger areas, can be mined by building an outpost equipped with an extractor that is able to extract resources continuously.

Other resources, however, are found in more dangerous territories, such as in areas where there is a toxic cloud. In this case you will have to be very fast and be able to get the resources before you suffer environmental damage or get infected. Some liquid resources are only present in small pools of water and can be harvested simply by interacting with them. Finally, rare resources such as caelumite can be found around anomalies or near artifacts.

How to get organic resources

It might sound strange, but things like Cosmetics, Structural or Spice can actually be harvested like organic resources. These organic resources can be found in outposts inside containers, or they can be obtained by killing alien fauna and flora present on planets.

One thing to know is that these organic resources have different weights and therefore means they have different uses. For example, you might find the same type of organic resource in an outpost or by killing local flora and fauna, but the weight will be different, so while it’s the same resource, it will have three different uses. Consequently, our advice is to keep the one that weighs less and use the heavier ones to craft or to sell them.

Also, to find out what kind of resource you can get, just scan the animal or plant in question. However, be careful with certain animals as they may become hostile, but they will reward you with resources that are rarer than other animals.

How to get manufactured resources

The last type of resources you can get in Starfield are manufactured resources which are mostly used to build outposts, but they can also be useful for some research projects or high end crafting. Resources such as Adaptive Frames, Monopropellants, and Nuclear Fuel Rods can be found by exploring other people’s outposts, abandoned structures, fighting enemies found on various planets, or they can also be collected from tables and chests.

Also, another important thing is that they can also be crafted at Industrial Workbenches. Keep in mind that you don’t need to do research projects to learn how to craft them, you just need to select the right resources and you’re done. However, only some items can be crafted, the others you will have to find as loot or go to the appropriate stores.

Finally, we advise you not to accumulate too many of these materials in order not to weigh down your ship’s cargo, since they have a greater mass than other resources. For this reason, it is best if you leave them in chests in your outposts, since they are materials that can mostly be used for the construction of the latter anyway.