Highlights
- Sand is an essential resource for Engineer buildings and industries, contributing to their happiness meter and specialization.
- Vectron Parts are crucial for completing the main quest and upgrading Scientist structures in the later stages of the game.
- Jetshrooms are the final resource needed for completing the game, but planting them requires keeping Scientists happy and meeting their complex requirements.
SteamWorld Build is no stranger when it comes to one of the key elements of city-building games: the harvesting of various resources that players’ cities will utilize for their various infrastructures. There are many types of resources that players will need to harvest and process to get their factories and industries rolling and performing optimally during their runs.
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However, some resources are more important to acquire than others, due to their versatility, or urgency for completing certain buildings to fulfill specific quests or fulfill workers’ needs. Here are the most important resources in SteamWorld Build that players should harvest as soon as they can.
1 Sand
Essential Material For Glassware
Sand is the second resource type that needs to be harvested in fertile ground for its building to perform more efficiently. Players gain access to the Sand Shifting Factory once they have Engineer Residential housing in their city.
Sand is a key component in some of the Engineer buildings that increase their happiness meter, namely the Moonshiner and Glassblower. These buildings contribute to the types of industries Engineers also specialize in. Other advanced buildings, from the Aristobots and Scientists, also rely on sand for some of their industrial buildings.
2 Vectron Parts
Key Resource For Scientist Structures
During the latter stages of a run in SteamWorld Build, players will encounter one type of resource that is crucial for completing the main quest: Vectron Parts. This resource is found on the lowermost level in the Mine and can be harvested by drilling blocks of it, or locating a Vectron Vein and using a Vectron Extractor.
Vectron Parts are essential for upgrading Aristobot Residential buildings into Scientist Residential buildings, as well as most Scientist-specialization structures and industries. Players need Vectron Parts to get to the final main mission and complete their run.
3 Jetshrooms
Final Fuel Resource For The End Game
Jetshrooms are the final resource players need to harvest to complete their run in SteamWorld Build. This can only be planted within certain locations inside the Mine and is the key material needed for the rocket’s fuel once all rocket pieces have been discovered.
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That said, getting the ability to plant Jetshrooms means having enough Scientists in the city and keeping their happiness meters at 100%. This can be challenging since Scientists have the most complex service and industry requirements and resources, namely Vectron Parts.
4 Gold & Rubies
Precious Metals For Purchasing Items
After the Train Station becomes operational, players will have access to items and trade. Items play a vital role in players’ cities, especially once they have the currency to purchase them and slot them into key buildings to either make them more efficient or give more happiness bonuses.
All the items in the Train Station require money and either Gold or Rubies. Gold and Rubies can only be harvested in the Mine, but are usually easy to spot since they are typically found in blocks across the different mine levels.
5 Sheet Metal
Metal Material For Building Advanced Structures
Sheet Metal is a resource that is made from processing the raw material, Ironium. As part of the Engineer industry buildings, once players have established Sheet Metal Factories in their city, they will eventually have the option to upgrade their Engineer Residential housing into Aristobots, the highest income-generating structure in the game.
Most Aristobot and Scientist structures also rely on Sheet Metal, as their buildings are more advanced compared to Engineers and Worker buildings. As players progress through the main quests, more advanced resources like Sheet Metal become intrinsic to accomplishing the more challenging tasks and getting to the end game.
6 Crude Oil
Lifeblood Of Aristobots
Crude Oil is an essential resource in SteamWorld Build that is found in the Mine. Players can harvest Crude Oil by placing Oil Extractors in Oil Resource Nodes. In deeper Mine sections, some Oil Nodes might be close to enemy nests, so players need to place defensive turrets and hire Guards to protect the Oil Extractors from enemy attacks.
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Topside, Crude Oil fuels most of the Aristobots’ industries, which affects their happiness meter. Given that Aristobots are the highest-earning workers, ensuring their needs are met is a consistent challenge that players should satisfy to keep raking in money for their cities.
7 Carbide Drills
Heavy-Duty Equipment For Mine Exploration
Exploring the Mines once players have access to them becomes crucial during their playthroughs since the lower levels have granite blocks that can only be cleared by miners using drills. To equip miners with drills, players need to have Carburizing Plants in their city: once these are built, these plants will churn out Carbide Drills that will make mine exploration easier to accomplish.
Carburizing Plants need Oil and Ironium to begin producing Carbide Drills. These resources are found inside the mine, and it can be quite an investment to harvest these nodes, but the benefits from doing so are worth it.
8 Tools
First-Level Metal-Produced Resource
Tools are the first metal-produced resource players will have to churn out in their city as a sign of progress. Tools are needed for some of the Engineer buildings and are a key component for upgrading Worker Residential to Engineer Residential housing.
Luckily, the mine provides various ways to collect tools: there are Tool blocks that can be harvested by miners, and Scrap Veins can be harvested by Prospector or Scrap Extractors. Scrap can then be processed in Toolmaker structures into Tools as a final product that will be at players’ disposal.
9 Ironium
Resource For Metal-Laden Goods And Advanced Structures
Ironium is one of the key raw materials players need to have in large quantities once they gain access to the mine. The latter buildings and industries, from the Engineers up to the Aristobots and Scientist establishments, require some level of Ironium product, be it in its raw form or sheet metal.
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Ironium Veins can be found at different levels inside the mine. Once players have settled into the mine and have the corresponding Prospector or Workshop estate, they can begin extracting Ironium via Prospectors or Ironium Extractor machines.
10 Logs
First Building Material For Cities
Before players can utilize sheet metal and other precious resources within the mine, they will first predominantly use Logs. In the early game, Logs are required for Boards, which are the building material for all first-level establishments and housing structures. This is why looking for the nearest tree clutch and placing a Forester and Lumber Mill is a top priority.
Logs become Boards via Lumber Mills, and they are used both in the city and inside the mine for Miner and Prospector quarters at the start. Once players have access to Charcoal Kilns, they have to make sure they have a good number of Foresters, since these buildings require Logs to turn them into charcoal.
