Astroneer is a survival game. Most of your time, to begin with will be spent on the starting planet Sylva. But the moon and stars loom large over your landscape, and once you get past the initial game, you start dreaming about going out there. It's exciting to visit these new planets and see the exciting flora, discover the enriching research opportunities, and, most importantly, harvest the resources you can't get in your starting world.
Traveling to new worlds can be hazardous, though. You can really set yourself back if you don't equip yourself properly for the journey. So here are some things you should always make sure you pack with you when you go.
Updated October 1, 2021, by Jamie Pellikaan: With recent updates and expansion to new consoles in 2022, Astroneer is quickly gaining new players who want to experience the unique space-centered survival game for themselves. Exploration is central to Astroneer's play format and with limited space, it can be tricky figuring out what exactly to pack when venturing off into uncharted space. Don't panic because we are here to tell you the essentials of what you need to not only survive but thrive on any planet you find yourself on.
15 Platforms
You need platforms for most of your equipment to function, so you will need them on the new planet. It's tempting to think that you might make them when you get there. After all, they're not hard to make. However, there are two good reasons to make them before you go.
First, it takes less space to transport the platforms themselves than to transport the materials. Second, while you only need resin to make them, your landing site won't always have resin. You don't want to delay your operation because of a simple, avoidable mistake.
14 Solar ඣ& Wind Power 𓆉
All your devices will require power꧙ on the new planet. You have many options to power your devices, but if𝄹 you really want your operation to run smoothly, you should bring both solar and wind power with you.
Every planet delivers a mix of both, although some planets are heavier on one or the other. Having both power sources lets your operation run more smoothly with fewer interruptions. If necessary, it's easy enough to supplement with small generators running off local organic.
13 Batteries
As with real-life, renewable energy generation is intermittent in Astroneer. Batteries help balance your production with your usage. They even help with utilizing your power generation from generators, burning organic so you don't have to keep turning the generators on and off to conserve fuel.
While you can sometimes find batteries among the debris, you don't want to depend on it. you also don't want to depend on finding a source of lithium to make batteries. Even in worlds where it's available, it's hard to find. Better to bring the batteries than to have your operations limited at first.
12 🐲 Soil Canister & Centrifuge✤
A soil centrifuge is a great backup against the variable availability of resources. Sometimes you might land in a place with a lot of resin, but very little compound. Or maybe it's the other way around. But no matter what, you can easily get these resources with a soil centrifuge, generating four stacks of one resource with a full canister of soil. And if you have a canister, you're always picking up soil whenever you harvest resources, or if you're creating a ramp to escape a pit you fell into.
You shouldn't count on making a soil centrifuge because it's smaller to bring the finished item, and if you don't have a smelting furnace, you can't make the aluminum necessary.
11 ♎ Atmospheric Condenser
One of the main reasons to go to another planet is to pick up atmospheric resources that aren't available on your planet. The starting planet Sylva has only two different atmospheric resources. The other four can be found on other planets, which may have between one and four of them present.
Atmospheric resources are critical ingredients or catalysts in many processes at your chemistry lab, so you need to be prepared to collect them. An atmospheric condenser requires three refined or composite resources that are hard to make, so it's best to just take the condenser itself.
10 R🃏esearch Chamberಌ
Another great reason to travel to other planets is to find research items that you can't find on your planet. These newly discovered research items can deliver many bytes, but they're also very bulky to carry home. It's just better to have a research chamber ready to start researching from the moment you land.
And it's best to get started by placing a research item in it ASAP. It can take time to really break down research items, so the sooner you start, the better. It's also good to leave the research bay behind, actively researching an item so you have ongoing "passive income" in bytes.
9 Beacon
A beacon is an incredibly helpful thing to have when you travel. A beacon helps you find your base again, so you don't end up getting lost in the new world. Plus, beacons are visible from space, so it can help you make sure you either land at the same location or avoid a landing site that was a dud.
A beacon violates the principle of being smaller crafted than not because it only requires one resource to craft. You can just bring some quartz, but you don't want to accidentally use the quartz for something else. It's best to just bring the beacon.
8 Material for a Thruster ♈
Astrogation is simple in Astroneer. Just point and shoot. Unfortunately, this can sometimes send you to a different planet than you wanted, and that can leave you stranded if you're not careful. And once you're on a strange planet unprepared for what you find there, it can be extremely difficult to find your way back home.
So, it's best to bring the resources you need to make up for this mistake. This means either carrying ammonium and aluminum for a replacement solid-fuel thruster or a backup canister of hydrazine for a hydrazine thruster.
7 Medium Prin༺ter ꩲ
Despite the fact that this list is reasonably comprehensive of the things you're likely to need on a new planet, it's not exhaustive. In many situations, you'll need to make new modules, and if you want to do that, you'll be very happy to have a medium printer.
A small printer is easy to make if you need it, but a medium printer requires more resources, which may be scarce at your landing site. If you don't need it, you can just leave it packed for the next trip.
6 Vehicle
You don't strictly need a vehicle to explore a new planet. You can do it on foot, making a trail of tethers to venture over the horizon. However, it's just easier to travel with a vehicle. It's especially useful because it lets you keep traveling in search of resources, whereas if you run out of the compound, you can't keep making tethers.
What's the best vehicle? If you have a small shuttle, you'll probably want a tractor and trailer. If you have a large shuttle, consider splurging on a rover. But if you do, make sure you are prepared to repackage it for the journey back home - that's an expensive piece of equipment to leave behind.