Tips

This is a community-written page for anyone that has a game tip; jot them down here to help other users on the Astroneer Wiki.

''Note. "attachment slot" refers to the top of a platform, vehicle, or a backpack slot. Avoid confusing this with power cables.''

Interacting

 * [PC] Hold SHIFT while left-clicking an item to snap it directly into your backpack or tool if you have at least one open slot.
 * [XBOX] While holding an item with RT, press X or Y to snap it directly into your backpack or tool if you have an open slot.
 * In printers, Chemistry Labs, or any device with a holographic blueprint shown for crafting items, if you have the required material for crafting in your backpack, you may left-click (on PC) or RT (on XBOX), while your cursor is over the holographic blueprint and it will automatically place the material into the slot.

Storage

 * In your Backpack, you have 14 spaces for items. 8 directly on the back, 2 on the top shoulders, 3 on your tool, and 1 in the crafting/printer slot at the bottom. Storing the one item in the personal printer requires selecting to print an item using the appropriate material. For example, using compound to craft tethers, while it is highlighted as the next item to be crafted you can store compound in that area.
 * When you die, all the items you had in your backpack will stay in the backpack and you'll have to retrieve them. If you had items in the Terrain Tool's slots, they'll be dropped alongside the backpack and you may need to dig a small hole on the ground to retrieve them. Take note that if you die a second time, your first body will despawn and drop all its items.
 * (likely/already patched?) If you die while holding any items (Research Items, Storages, Seats or simply item stacks) you will respawn at your base still holding them.
 * You can manually drag platforms (such as Extra Large Platform B) to transport multiple research and resource items in one trip; or, use them for space saving storage of resources in your base. Just build platform in its packaged state, right click to carry to your destination, deploy platform at your destination, attach any research and resource items, and click-drag platform across the terrain from behind you to in front of you, run beyond the platform and repeat movement. It is not possible for your character to carry and walk with a deployed platform and this method is best when you do not have a large enough vehicle. Remember that attaching a power cables will anchor platforms and removing power cables will allow you to move it again.
 * It is also possible to package your research items by using the packager.

Resources

 * You can use the Trade Platform to obtain many common resources needed and continue producing them from soil samples via the Soil Centrifuge.
 * Resource production can be done via the large shredder and trading platform. Collect salvage for the large shredder. Use the produced scrap in the trade platform for needed/missing resources. You can use a rover with a winch to collect large items.
 * Dragging back a large number of Scrap platforms to your base from underground should be done by dragging each platform up to the surface individually. Moving the platforms together is much slower, because running back and forth small distances is much more time wasting.
 * Rather than using the soil centrifuge to directly produce Quartz, Ammonium, or Graphite, consider producing Clay with it, smelting the clay into Ceramic, crafting the Ceramic into Drill Mod 1, then using a shredder to produce a scrap for every two drill mods. Trading this scrap will yield, on average, 1.5x as much quartz, and 3x as much graphite and Ammonium. In addition, this method allows one to convert soil into other resources such as Laterite or [[Hematite].

Power

 * By using Small Batteries, it is possible to recharge a Vehicle along a Tether line. Batteries in a player's inventory can be charged via a tether connection and will transfer their energy into a vehicle once they are put on an open slot in the vehicle's inventory.
 * Putting small/medium solar panels/windmills in the attachment slots on your base/vehicles can provide energy instead of using the organic energy blocks with the small/medium generator. (Small batteries can also be used on backpack/Terrain Tool for power.) The small generator, Small Wind Turbine, and Small Solar Panel can be crafted though your backpack, while the larger items are crafted from the Small Printer.
 * Remember to try and create lots of solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries for your power grid. The more power you have in your grid, the faster that modules such as the Fabricator will work.

Organizing

 * DO NOT put single items or Tier-2 (paired slot) equipment in slots designed for Tier-3 and Tier-4 equipment. You should not have empty Tier-3 or Tier-4 connection slots. These should be filled with many Large Storage or some manufacturing tool. One of these: Large Storage, Smelting Furnace, Research Chamber, Large Printer, Trade Platform, Atmospheric Condenser, Soil Centrifuge, Chemistry Lab, Large Shredder. Or maybe a Large Rover Seat or Crane. The Large Storage requires 3 ceramic so go find and smelt clay. The Tier-4 Extra Large Storage is not recommended.
 * Build lots of Medium Storage. Fill your Large Storage with them. Built at small printer with 2 Resin. You will need 100 to 200 resin for these.
 * Attachment quick reference:
 * Tier-2 requires a pair of attachment slots joined by a red line.
 * Tier-3 requires four attachment slots joined with red lines, in the shape of a capital letter H.
 * Tier-4 is TWO Tier-3 attachments joined by an additional red line (example: T - T ).

Storage Comparison:


 * 1) Medium Storage - Tier-2 attachment. Carries 8 small items. Recommended to mass-produce.
 * 2) Medium Storage Silo - Mid-game Tier-2 attachment. Can hold 24 small items.
 * 3) Large Storage - Tier-3 attachment. Provides 4 Tier-2 attachment slots. 4 Medium Storage will provide storage for 32 small items. It takes 3 pieces of Ceramic to make, nicely coinciding with how much Clay you can get out of one full Canister.
 * 4) Large Storage Silo A - Mid-game Tier-3 attachment. Provides 8 Tier-2 attachment slots. 8 Medium Storage s will give you 64 small slots. It costs 5000 Bytes, but once unlocked, getting Aluminum Alloy is relatively easy, should you want to mass-produce these.
 * 5) Large Storage Silo B - Late-game Tier 3 attachment. Provides 12 Tier-2 attachment slots. 12 Medium Storages will give you a whopping 96 storage capacity. If paired with 12 Medium Storage Silo s, the capacity triples to 288 items.Extra Large Storage - One of the only items in the game that requires/occupies a Tier-4 slot with 8 connectors. These are only useful for inefficient and expensive, but easy to navigate storage, a vanity project, or some completionist goals.

Recommended Manufacturing Platforms:


 * 1) Large Platform B
 * 2) * One Tier-3 slot
 * 3) * Two Tier-2 slots
 * 4) Large T-Platform
 * 5) * Two Tier-3 slots, effectively the same as Large Platform B, but able to hold two Large Modules at the same time.
 * 6) Extra Large Platform A - Octagonal shaped platform with the largest attachment slot.
 * 7) * One Tier-4 slot
 * 8) Extra Large Platform C - Shaped like an oversized Large Platform B, but every slot is one Tier higher.
 * 9) * One Tier-4 slot
 * 10) * Two Tier-3 slots

Mobilizing

 * Your Vehicles can be attached together to form road trains. Click the power cable on one vehicle and connect it to another vehicle's cable slot. However, the speed and efficiency of the vehicle will lower depending on how many vehicles you have attached.
 * Equip an Extra Large Shredder with you in a train, instead of hauling each salvage item back to base. (You can also put unwanted items like canisters, modules and platforms in the Shredder.) For additional supplies one can fill canisters (via the drill on the rover as long as empty canisters are attached or via empty canisters on the backpack with the extraction tool) with soil while removing salvage from the ground, and use the soil centrifuge for additional resource production.
 * Do not operate Large Rover at a core due to gravity design. Medium rovers perform better.
 * Be aware that using rovers in cave systems is extremely difficult, because of the uneven terrain and stalagmites everywhere. If a smooth, clean road is built to descend and ascend on, rover usage can speed up work considerably.

Off-World Travel

 * If you plan to settle down other planets with the Small Shuttle, these are the items to take with you: 1x Medium Storage in the side of the shuttle. Put the following onto it: 2x boxed medium platform B s, a Beacon, a boxed medium solar panel, a boxed medium printer, 2x compound, 1x aluminum. In your backpack: 4x resin, 2x boxed Medium Wind Turbine, 2x compound. Deploy your Medium Platform s, and connect them. Place the solar panel (wind turbine at night) and printer on top of them. Print a large platform B, a Soil Centrifuge, and a Research Chamber. Deploy the platform and put the centrifuge on top of it, and you have a starting base. Put your beacon near the landing zone to be able to find it later, and pla ce your other power generating module and Oxygenator on the free slots. You are ready to go. With the soil canister and Soil Centrifuge, you can create all of the needed resources to build out your base, just dig up some earth.


 * As of the 1.0 release, Solid-Fuel Thrusters are now good for a full return trip, as well as any planet being reachable from the st art. Additionally, the new Small Shuttle now contains one extra Tier-2 storage slot on the side. Base/tether networks also now require an Oxygenator to function properly. It is recommended to create Medium Storage filled with extra materials and at least one packaged Oxygenator to set into your shuttle. Please keep this in mind when making adjustments to your cargo.

Conseils