Beginner's strategy for making Steel

[FallingOut]

This recommendation is only meant for inexperienced players who are just starting out.

The main takeaway should be: At the beginning of a new game Iron Ore is a valuable resource needed to craft Steel and it is not a good idea to waste it on smelting it to craft Iron Ingots. In a new game, players can save themselves much time and effort later on by putting Iron Ore aside for crafting Steel Alloy instead.

In early game new players have no need for Steel. But as time goes by and more and more technologies are acquired, players will need a lot of it. Among other things, Steel is required for repairing the truck, building an Oil Extractor and the Oil Pump. Players who want to build bases with a lot of glass construction components will also need loads of Steel.

Steel Ingots are crafted on a forge by smelting Steel Alloy. Steel Alloy resembles an Iron Fragment but is lighter in color. It is crafted on an Anvil by combining Iron Ore with Lead Ore.

Because players will eventually need a huge amount of Steel Ingots it is advisable to start crafting Steel Alloy from the very beginning of a new game.

Caves are the best early game source for Lead Ore and Iron Ore, the ingredients for making Steel Alloy. When broken, cave boulders yield 2 Lead Ore and one other component: Iron Ingot, Clay or Stone. Brand new players may like to collect the Clay and Stone and bring it back to their base. In any case, it is advisable for them to bring back to their base all Iron Ore and the same amount of Lead Ore and craft Steel Alloy out of them. The rest of the Lead Ore can be left stored in a container in the cave until it is needed at some future time.

By starting collecting Lead Ore and Iron Ore from caves to make Steel Alloy so early, players should have enough Steel Alloy to fulfill their need for Steel when the time comes. It is not necessary to wait around in a cave until boulders spawn or search the entire cave. It is enough to just mine all the boulders that spawn around the entrance every time the cave is entered. In a new game, caves need to be entered frequently because the player needs to manually refuel all Mineral Extractors in the cave with bio fuel.

The collected supply of Iron Ore and Lead Ore will be of course be supplemented by Iron Ore and Lead Ore that the player acquires through looting. Players can also mine Iron Ore by placing Mineral Extractors outside of a cave. But that is slow going and better suited for later on, when players have plentiful resources to build Mineral Extractors and when they have an Oil Pump to fuel them.