ASTRONEER Advanced Guide- Up to Date (10/1/2019)

This guide has not been completed yet. We are aware that there have been patches and updates since the 1.0.9 patch and are currently working on updating the new research requirements for some items. We try to update from time to time, but there isn't much content in astroneer keeping us going.

Getting Started

Please do the tutorial first before using this as a starting point. You have just landed on Sylva aka Terran. First exit your shuttle and make your way over to the landing platform. Open the handheld device on the platform and send in your start up package. There should be three packages. unpack them and place them on the ground for now. Take the oxygenator and place it in the side of your shelter, this will allow you to breathe and use tethers which are explained later. Then place the table down close to the shelter, if you need to rotate it, use the c key. After that you will need to plug in the table. Click the red port on the table and connect it to the red port on the shelter which provides basic power to your base. Now place the medium printer onto the table so that the front faces away from the shelter, thus allowing for items to be built. Now look around, look for resources such as compound or resin which are explained later. Resin is yellow while compound is a grey and shaped like clouds. Look around for wrecks such as old shuttles, rovers, etc. These can contain valuable items to boost your power such as turbines or solar panels. Wrecks may also contain broken versions of these items which can later be turned to scrap. Use the resources you find to start building your base, and find research by finding bytes. Press tab to open the research catalog. Research allows you to unlock more things in the game, but we will explain that later.

Power and Oxygen

Power is needed to do just about anything in astroneer. Oxygen keeps you alive. Forms of power include the power cell, small battery, medium battery, small generator, medium generator, RTG, small wind turbine, small solar panel, the shelter, solar array, medium wind turbine, medium solar panel. Extenders and the splitter can also be used to control power. Each items produces a certain amount of amps which is its measure of power. Powere cells, small batteries, and small generators each give off 1 amp. The medium battery and the medium generator both give off 3 amps. The RTG gives 4 amps. The amount of power given off by solar panels, wind turbines, and solar array depend on the planet.

As for oxygen there is the oxygenator, portable oxygenator, filters, and the small oxygen tank. Oxygen allows you to breathe away from your shelter or shuttle. The oxygenator and portable oxygenator allow your modules to give oxygen too. They also allow the use of tethers. Tethers, if connected, give you power and oxygen as you travel, use T to place them down and as long as they are blue, then they are working. If you are not producing any power, then the tethers will not supply power.

Resources

Compound:Compound is one of the most useful resources in the game. It is essential for survival and moving on in the game. Compound is found on every planet, though it is very rare on some planets. When you first land on Sylva, the first thing you need to find is compound. This lets you make tethers which allows you to explore without dying. Compound is also used to make many different modules which allow you to progress in the game. Every printer requires compound to build.



In the Backpack:
Tethers
Small Printer
Small Generator

In the Small Printer:
Rover Seat
Medium Printer

In the Medium Printer:
Research Chamber
Soil Centrifuge
Smelting Furnace
Trade Platform
Large Printer

In the Large Printer:
Buggy
Rover Seat
Large Rover Seat

Compound is also used to make composite materials in the Chemistry Lab.

Resin:

Resin is another very important material in the game. It is found on every planet, but less common on some than others. Resin is used to make tables on which you put modules. It is also used to make storage which holds materials and other things you need to go to other planets.



In the Backpack:
Oxygen Filters
Canisters

In the Small Printer:
Medium Platform A
Medium Platform B
Medium Storage

In the Medium Printer:
Large Platform A
Large Platform B
Smelting Furnace
Research Chamber

In the Large Printer:
Extra Large Platform B

Resin is also used to make composite materials in the Chemistry Lab.

Organic:



Organic is found on every planet. It is a very common resource collected by digging up flora and fauna. Organic is very useful as it is used to power small generators and smelted to make carbon. It is also used to make to make rubber in the chemistry lab.



Carbon:



Carbon is very useful for making other resources that help you progress in the game. It is also used to power the medium generator.

Quartz:



Quartz is another resource found on every planet that is very useful. Quartz is used to make the beacon which is used to mark a point on a planet so you can come back to it later.



In the Backpack:
Beacon

In the Smelter:
Glass

Quartz is also used to make composite materials in the Chemistry Lab.

Glass:
Glass is a very basic material which is very useful later on. It is made by smelting quartz. It is used to make modules and items for power and oxygen.



In the Backpack:
Small Oxygen Tank
Small Wind Turbine

In the Small Printer:
Medium Solar Panel
Medium Wind Turbine

In the Medium Printer:
Chemistry Lab
Astmospheric Condenser

Clay:
Clay is an uncommon resource in astroneer which is useless until smelted. When smelted, it turns into ceramic.



Ceramic:
Ceramic is a very useful resource in astroneer. It is used to make a variety of vehicles, modules, and other things.



In the Backpack:
Drill Mod 1

In the Small Printer:
Oxygenator
Drill Strength 1
Medium Wind Turbine

In the Medium Printer:
Chemistry Lab
Landing Pad
Large Storage
Medium Rover

In the Large Printer:
Medium Shuttle
Large Shuttle

Graphite:
Graphite is an uncommon resource found on all planets.

In the Backpack:
Packager

In the Small Printer:
Splitter

Graphite is also used to make composite materials in the Chemistry Lab.

Sphalerite:



Sphalerite is a resource found only on Barren and Terran, although it is found in abundance on these two planets. This is the first material where you HAVE to smelt it for it to be useful in any way. Smelting sphalerite gives you zinc.



Zinc:
Zinc's main use is to make mods and power. It is made by smelting sphalerite.



In the Backpack:
Alignment Mod
Inhibitor Mod
Boost Mod
Narrow Mod
Wide Mod
Terrain Analyzer
Power Cells

In the Small Printer:
Medium Battery

Ammonium:
Ammonium is an uncommon resource which is found on all planets. It is essential for space travel as it is needed to make and/or fuel boosters which make your ship be able to go into space.



In the Small Printer:
Solid Fuel Thruster

Ammonium is also used to make composite materials in the Chemistry Lab.

Laterite:



Laterite is an uncommon resource in Astroneer, primarily found below the surface. It is found on every planet. Smelting laterite gives you aluminum, which is easily the second most useful material in the game, behind compound.



Aluminum:



Aluminum is a very useful resource in Astroneer which is attained by smelting laterite.

In the Small Printer:
Buggy
Trailer
Tractor
Solid-Fuel Thruster
Medium Generator
Oxygenator

In the Medium Printer:
Landing Pad
Soil Centrifuge

In the Large Printer:
Small Shuttle

Aluminum is also used to make composite materials in the Chemistry Lab.

Malachite:

Malachite is a resource found only on Sylva and Calidor. On Sylva, malachite is uncommon and can only found in mountain ranges. On Calidor, it is found in large pockets underground. It can be smelted to become malachite.

Resources Continued

Copper:

Copper is a smelted resource made by smelting copper. Most things involving advanced power, such as splitters and worklights, are made with copper. Copper can only be found on the surface of Sylva or the caves of Calidor.

Backpack

Small Printer

Medium Printer

Large Printer

Copper is also used to make composite resources in the chemistry lab.

Wolframite:

Wolframite is an uncommon resource found in the caves of Desolo and the surface of Calidor. When smelted, it turns into tungsten, which is a very essential resource for progressing in the game.

All Crafting Recipes

Backpack:
Tethers- 1 Compound
Canister- 1 Resin
Oxygen Filters- 1 Resin
Small Generator- 1 Compound
Small Printer- 1 Compound
Worklight- 1 Copper
Beacon- 1 Quartz
Packager- 1 Graphite
Dynamite- 1 Explosive Powder
Fireworks- 1 Explosive Powder
Power Cells- 1 Zinc
Small Oxygen Tank- Glass
Portable Oxygenator- 1 NanoCarbon Alloy
Small Wind Turbine- 1 Glass
Small Solar Panel- 1 Copper
Small Battery- 1 Lithium
All Mods (Expect Drill Mods)- 1 Zinc
Drill Mod 1- 1 Ceramic
Drill Mod 2- 1 Tungsten Carbide
Drill Mod 3- 1 Diamond
Extenders- 1 Copper
Solid-Fuel Jump Jet- 1 Aluminum Alloy
Hydrazine Jet Pack- 1 Titanium Alloy
Floodlight- 1 Tungsten
Glowsticks- 1 Organic
Probe Scanner- 1 Steel
Holographic Figurine- 1 Plastic
Small Camera- 1 Steel

Small Printer:
Medium Platforms A- 1 Resin
Medium Storage- 2 Resin
Rover Seat- 2 Compound
Medium Printer- 2 Compound
Oxygenator- 1 Aluminum, 1 Ceramic
Medium Generator- 1 Aluminum, 1 Tungsten
Medium Solar Panel- 1 Copper, 1 Glass
Medium Wind Turbine- 1 Glass, 1 Ceramic
Medium Battery- 1 Lithium, 1 Zinc
Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator- 1 NanoCarbon Alloy, 1 Lithium
Splitter- 1 Copper, 1 Graphite
Medium Platform B- 2 Resin
Medium Shredder- 2 Iron
Tractor- 2 Aluminum
Trailer- 1 Aluminum, 1 Compound
Drill Strength 1- 1 Tungsten Carbide, 1 Ceramic
Drill Strength 2- 1 Tungsten Carbide, 1 Titanium Allow
Drill Strength 3- 1 Diamond, 1 Titanium Alloy
Solid Fuel Thruster- 1 Aluminum, 1 Ammonium
Hydrazine Thruster- 1 Tungsten, 1 Titanium Alloy
Winch- 1 Tungsten, 1 Rubber
Shuttle Seat- 2 Aluminum
Field Shelter- 1 Silicone, 1 Graphene
Medium Storage Silo- 2 Titanium
Tall Storage- 1 Ceramic
Medium Platform C- 1 Resin
Tall Platform- 1 Copper
Medium T-Platform- 2 Plastic

Medium Printer:
Large Platform A- 2 Resin
Large Platform B- 3 Resin
Large Platform C- 3 Iron
Research Chamber- 2 Compound, 1 Resin
Smelting Furnace- 1 Compound, 2 Resin
Soil Centrifuge- 2 Compound, 1 Aluminum
Chemistry Lab- 1 Tungsten, 1 Glass, 1 Ceramic
Atmospheric Condenser- 1 Iron, 1 Plastic, 1 Glass
Trade Platform- 1 Iron, 1 Tungsten, 1 Compound
Large Shredder- 1 Tungsten Carbide, 2 Iron
Large Printer- 3 Compound
Large Storage A- 3 Aluminum Alloy
Large Storage B- 3 Steel
Large Storage Ring- 1 Aluminum Alloy, 2 Ceramic
Large T-Platform- 1 Aluminum Alloy, 2 Plastic
Large Hoop Platform A- 1 Aluminum Alloy, 1 Copper, 1 Ceramic
Large Hoop Platform B- 1 Aluminum Alloy, 1 Copper, 1 Steel
Large Curved Platform- 1 Aluminum Alloy, 1 Iron, 1 Ceramic
Recreational Sphere- 1 Aluminum Alloy, 1 Rubber

Large Platform-
Extra Large Platform A- 4 Iron
Extra Large Platform B- 2 Iron, 2 Resin
Extra Large Storage- 2 Iron, 2 Steel
Large Rover- 2 Aluminum Alloy, 2 Rubber
Small Shuttle- 2 Aluminum
Medium Shuttle- 2 Ceramic, 2 Aluminum Alloy
Large Shuttle- 2 Titanium Alloy, 2 Ceramic
Shelter- 2 Silicone, 2 Plastic
Solar Array- 1 Copper, 1 Graphene, 1 Glass, 1 Plastic
Extra Large Curved Platform- 1 Aluminum Alloy, 1 Steel, 2 Titanium
Recreational Canopy- 1 Steel, 2 Aluminum, 1 Explosive Powder
Extra Large Arch Platform- 2 Steel, 2 Titanium
Figurine Platform- 1 Iron, 1 Aluminum Alloy, 2 Steel
Extra Large Shredder- 2 Tungsten Carbide, 2 Steel
Extra Large Platform C- 2 Iron, 2 Steel

Modules

We classify modules as “items you put on platforms that help you make other things.” The main two things modules make are resources and all craftable items.

Small Printer:
The small printer is the only module you don’t need a platform for. However, it still needs to be plugged into something for it to work, though it requires very little power. The small printer makes everything that requires two materials to make, such as boosters and other medium sized objects.

Medium Printer:
The medium printer is the first module you have, as it comes in the startup package. It requires a medium platform or bigger to be able to be used. The main use of the medium printer is making the large modules which are used to make resources which are essential to making more complex resources so you can make better items. Everything made in the medium printer require three resources.

Large Printer:
The large printer allows you to make all three shuttles, a shelter, extra large storage, extra large platforms A + B, and the solar array, among other things. This printer requires a large amount of space to be used as the objects made by it require a lot of room to be made.

Vehicles

Transportation around large planets is essential to playing astroneer. They can carry resources, modules, oxygen, power, etc. Heck, if you really wanted you could make a portable base that just sits on wheels and could be taken anywhere on the planet! Lets discuss some of the vehicle options. First, there is the shuttle. There is the small shuttle, medium shuttle, and the large shuttle. The small shuttle is the basic shuttle that has no additional storage space, only room for an oxygenator and you. This shuttle is very basic and should be used for as long as it is needed, but needs to be replaced quickly with the medium shuttle. The medium shuttle is much larger with room for an oxygenator, and 4 things of storage. Putting medium storages on this thing gives you an additional 16 storage. The large shuttle is difficult to make, but would be worth it as you can double your storage capacity to 32 with medium storages.

Next we will move on too ground transportation. There is the buggy, medium rover, large rover, tractor, and trailer. The buggy, is terrible, do not make it. It has two open slots for power so it gets stuck without power a lot. It has terrible handing. If you are looking for a good small vehicle, try the tractor and trailer. The tractor requires at least one trailer to power it, but is great for the start to mid game. It is cheap, good with power, and handles well. Each trailer can hold one module such as a medium storage or a wind turbine for power. Later on it could hold a winch or large battery. It is small and nimble meaning that when it gets stuck it isn't terrible trying to get it out. Now for the medium rover. Personally I stuck with the tractor/trailer until I got the large rover so I am not too familiar with the medium rover. I do however know that It is better than the buggy because the buggy is terrible. I know that it has decent storage so you can carry power and resources that you mine on the back. It also has room for medium storage(s). Now for the large rover. The large rover is a beast. It is slow but powerful. It can carry a ton of storage. Mine is decked out with 4 medium storages full of batteries and two egg beaters on the front, with a scrapper on top. It is my mobile scrapper and gateway ?powerer?. It has room for 8 medium modules allowing for maximum power and use.

So You Want To Go To Space?

Space travel is complicated. You will need to first research the small shuttle and build it. After that you will need to research the small thruster. Build both of these, and its best to always have a spare thruster on you. After unpacking your shuttle unpack the thruster and attach it to the bottom of the shuttle. In order to survive on new planets, you will need to also make and place an oxygenator on the shuttle. Now that the shuttle is ready to go, prepare for the planet. You will have your own preferences as too what to bring, but research your planet first. If it has high wind then bring turbines and vice versa. I always bring the materials for tables, the soil centrifudge, the smelter, medium printer, small fabricator, a beacon, and tethers. Load these onto your person's backpack, if you have a friend to help you, this prevents more than one trip, but you would need another shuttle. NEVER leave a planet without an extra thruster, this makes returning very difficult and could take hours to get back. Also always take a beacon so that your base is not lost if you decide to leave the planet.Enter your shuttle and launch into space with the c key. Upon entering the planet's orbit you can choose to land on that planet by clicking one of the transparent bubbles on the surface or launch deeper into space with the c key again. I would recommend traveling to desolo, or "the moon" of Sylva first as it is a very easy planet to conquer. While in deep space you can select the planet you want to travel too. Click that planet and then you will enter its orbit. Click a transparent bubble on the surface. Exit the shuttle and place the beacon next to the shuttle. Turn it on so that it has a color that you will recognize. Then get to building. Place the fabricator down, build tables and the medium fabricator. If you need to go back to Sylva for more resources, go ahead, just make sure to replace your thruster upon arriving and store the old for future use, they are very valuable. Again make sure you make another before launching and keep it with you. Then make the soil centrifudge and smelter. Your base is now set up, if you don't have the materials to build something, use the soil centrifudge to make that material instead of wasting your thrusters to go back home. Keep in mind that resources are limited, don't waste them. Each planet poses new dangers so be wary of your surroundings.

Planets

Terrain Tool

The terrain tool is easily the most used item in the game. Therefore investing bytes and resources into these mods is worth it.
Narrow mod

Normal with inhibitor mod which does not allow you to deform the terrain

Wide mod

terrain amalyzer


Alignment mod deforms terrain along curves
Drill mod 1-3
allow you to deform the harder soil

Cosmetics and Gateways/Engines

SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!! Skip to next section if you don't want spoilers about the story of the game.




















Gateways are large purple structures in astroneer that glow when activated. They produce a beam of light until activated to allow you to find them. Gateways must be powered, and each planets requires a different amount of amps. Gateways are not essential to the game, they are more of a secret if you want to get cosmetics and achievements. They also allow for fast travel around the planet if you have unlocked one or more.

Traveling to one should be done with tethers so that you do not get lost, I have made this mistake before. The gateways require a steady amount of power to work and will shut down if they are not given enough amps.

Engines however are different. They are located at the core of the planet and are beautiful. They need a certain resource to power, each planet needing a different one. I would recommend ramping your way down, pivoting every once in awhile so that you do not get off track. Upon finding the core there will be a tough terrain that can not be mined with your terrain tool unless you are using a drill mod. Under that terrain there should be either a large purple twisty thing sticking out of the ground or a large ball that is purple. If it is the twisty thing, then follow it and dig with it until you get to the purple ball. Be careful here as the gravity is low and jumping could be the death of you. Place a tether trail behind you as you travel to the ball. At the end of the path place a tether on the ball and jump to it. Continue your path until you reach the inside. There will be either three triangles or one triangle in the center. Go to the one with three triangles. If you only see one, look up. Plug that resource into any one of those 3 triangles and you will get a key. If you want to prepare for the future, inset another of the resource for a nother key which can be used later! Take this key to the one triangle, again if you don't know where it is, look up. Place the key on top of the hole (it needs to snap) and wait for it too do its thing. Then you will have unlocked the cosmetics for that planet and unlocked a fast travel between the core and surface. THIS WILL ONLY WORK IF ONE OR MORE OF THE GATEWAYS HAVE BEEN ACTIVATED ON THAT PLANET.

Cosmetics are received upon activating the engine on a planet. Each planet has its own cosmetics. These are just some of the cosmetics available. The astroneer wiki lists all of the rewards per planet.

All galactic suits
Exo

Bubble

Flight (pajamas)

Bio

Retro

Exotic

Terran

Tundra

Arid

Radiated

Galactic (the true one)


We are still going for gold

The Wanderer

SPOILERS!!! Skip to the Next Section to Avoid Spoilers

Miscellaneous Objects

Packager
Landing Pad
Drill Strength 1-3
Platforms
Storage
Beacon

Achievements

That golden astroneer suit, so dreamy. The ultimate astroneer will grind for this suit. Let us help you get it.
EXO Dynamics Seal of Approval-finish the tutorial
Blast off-Leave Sylva via shuttle
One Small Step-Visit Desolo
It's a Dry Heat-Visit Calidor
Into the Woods-Visit Exotic
To the Forest Moon-Visit Novus
I Feel Sick-Visit Atrox
Cool As Ice-Visit Glacio
Hang 10-squared-slide without being interrupted for 10 seconds
Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads-drive a rover (not a shuttle) in the air for 10 seconds (just go to the core)
Galactic Boogalo-Dance on every planet (equip dances from the customization menu)
Baby You’re a Firework-Launch 10 fireworks in 10 seconds
EXO Dynamics Outreach Participant-Join or host a game with a friend (If you don’t have many friends like us, we will help you out!) but no seriously we are lonely we need friends
Let Me Borrow This Just A Second-Use a Research Chamber to research something in another Astroneer's game
EXO Dynamics Outreach Advocate-Spend more than 4 total hours in multiplayer sessions
Journey to the Center of the Thing-Travel to the center of any planet in a multiplayer game
Interplanetary Road Trip-Travel to another planet with another player in the same shuttle
Up By the Roots-Dig up a hazard
Pursuit of Knowledge-Research an item in the Research Chamber
A Little Byte Goes a Long Way-Scan a Research Sample of any type
Dirt Don't Hurt-Extract a resource using the Soil Centrifuge
Do Science To It-Synthesize a composite material with the Chemistry Lab
A Little Gassy-Collect a gas with the Atmospheric Condenser
Sweet New Ride-Build a rover of any type
Scrap for the Scrapper-Scrap an object in a Shredder
Junk Trader-Use the Trade Platform to exchange Scrap for another resource
Barrier Buster-Use a drill to deform a harder type of terrain
Making a New Friend-Plant a seed
In An Astroneer's Garden-Plant at least one of every type of seed: Spinelily, Lashleaf, Bouncevine, Wheezeweed, Thistlewhip, Popcoral, and Daggeroot
Well Hello There, Fancypants-Change into a different suit
Thank You For Your Continued Assistance-Solve an EXO Dynamics Research Aid
Lab Rat-Use the Chemistry Lab to synthesize each composite material
Gas Giant-Use the Atmospheric Condenser to collect every type of gas
Chop Shop-Scrap 50 objects in a Shredder
Delve Greedily and Deep-Travel to the Mantle depth of any planet
Resources in the Rough-Use the Terrain Tool to harvest every type of raw material
They Who Smelt It-Use the Smelter to craft every type of refined resource
Research Scientist-Gain 100,000 Bytes across all games
Information Dump-Reach more than 150 Bytes-Per-Minute of research


SPOILERS BELOW!!! DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT THE GAME TO BE SPOILED









Shapes and Other Shapes-Find a Gateway Chamber
First Step Into a Larger World-Solve a Gateway Chamber
Secrets of the Universe-Solve all the Gateway chambers
Now You See Me...-Utilize the Gateway Fast Travel Network
Encounter With the Infinite-Find a Gateway Engine
Sylva Awakened-Solve the Gateway Engine on Sylva
Calidor Awakened-Solve the Gateway Engine on Calidor
Vesania Awakened-Solve the Gateway Engine on Vesania
Novus Awakened-Solve the Gateway Engine on Novus
Glacio Awakened-Solve the Gateway Engine on Glacio
Atrox Awakened-Solve the Gateway Engine on Atrox
To Infinity...-Solve all of the Gateway Engines in a single game
...And Beyond-pass through the Gateway Portal into the unknown...
EXO Dynamics Solar System Mastery-Obtain every Achievement in Astroneer
The First Discovery-Use the Probe Scanner to find one of the mysterious Vintage Probes
The Wanderer's Way-Said hello to the Wanderer

Help with Astroneer

Need some help whether it be with gateways/engines or just need help with starting up a base, we can help. Friend either WaterCrab or not_muffin and we will help you out!

[MissingNo]

thank you, this is a very complete guide. I'm curious tho, i found this abandoned base and got some cool stuff scattered around. What's that about?

[ArtynGamin]

I feel like a total idiot, but how do I throw a glowstick? I have them on my pack, but T is for tethers and E and F do nothing. I tried basically every key and reasonable key combo, I'm still completely in the dark (pun intended) why are glowsticks so hard?!

[Sleepy Sel]

the fact that this is outdated and semi-accurate is awesome

[Sliver]

How do I connect a medium printer to a generator?
It has no plugs.

[Ryuuken]

Making a comment here about my friend request. I don't have anybody that owns Astroneer, so I could use help getting the multiplayer achievements.

[muffin_not]

No you only need to activate one gateway on the planet the engine you're trying to activate the engine on

[The Blue Hat]

do getaway engines require all gateways to be turned on?

[Cockroach Messiah]

I can second that, but year use a thruster from a higher place, that should do the trick

[muffin_not]

Watercrab and i both got oours off of glitches back right after the 1.0 came out so we don't really know the easiest way to do it. What will said might work though

[will to live]

if u want 10 sec air time use a thruster