Metals
Metals are the most versatile materials. They can be used for buildings as well as armor and weapons.
Comparison table
Below is a list of material effects for metals. When a stuffable item is created from a metal, each of its base stats is multiplied by a factor for that stat belonging to the material used. Take "Armor - Sharp" for example. For this stat, steel has a factor of 0.9 and plate armor has base stat of 0.73. Thus, the final "Armor - Sharp" of a set of steel plate armor before quality multipliers is: 0.9 * 0.73 or 65.7%
This process is then repeated for each stat. The material's HP factor is applied to the items base HP, flammability factor to flammability etc. Insulation is not expressed as a percentage and is thus slightly different. For an example of how to calculate the insulation for a given piece of apparel, see Apparel
Market value is the notable exception to this direct multiplicative relationship, but the value of a material does have a direct effect on that of the final product. See Market Value for details.
| Material | Beauty Factor | Beauty Offset | Work To Make Factor | Max Hit Points Factor | Flammability Factor | Armor - Sharp Factor | Armor - Blunt Factor | Armor - Heat Factor | Melee Blunt Damage Factor | Melee Sharp Damage Factor | Melee Cooldown Factor | Door Opening Speed Factor | Market Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 4 | 20 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.72 | 0.36 | 0.36 | 1.15 | 0.75 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Plasteel | 1 | 0 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 0 | 1.14 | 0.55 | 0.65 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 1 | 9 |
| Silver | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.72 | 0.36 | 0.36 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Steel | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.45 | 0.6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.9 |
| Uranium | 0.5 | 0 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 0 | 1.08 | 0.54 | 0.65 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.75 | 6 |
All metals have the following modifiers in common:
- Work To Build Factor is the same as Work To Make Factor.
- Insulation - Cold of 3°C.
- Insulation - Heat of 0°C.
- Rest Effectiveness Factor of 1.
Descriptions
Gold
The most seductive metal of them all. While it is too soft to be of much practical use, it is strikingly beautiful and never tarnishes. Millions have died in attempting to feed the endless human thirst for gold.
Gold is a very beautiful and valuable resource.
Plasteel
Advanced spacer tech structural material. Plasteel is extremely strong due to its unique molecular structure.
Plasteel is the strongest material in the game. Commonly used for high tech items, especially ship engines and other modules, which are needed to build a spaceship to escape the planet and win the game. Can be obtained by
- trading,
- disassembling a dead Mechanoid,
- mining compacted plasteel deposits,
- using a deep drill on an underground plasteel vein.
Silver
This metal is mostly used as a commodity currency. It can also be used for making decorations.
Silver is a precious, uncommon material. It is ill-suited for industrial or structural use, but is recognized as a trade currency which all traders will readily accept. Furniture, recreation sources, and sculptures built with silver tend to have very impressive beauty values, and it can also be used to produce slightly better-than-average blunt weapons (though this is rarely a wise use of the metal). Although an equivalent value of Jade has higher beauty and blunt damage meaning that Jade is a preferable resource to use if it is available. It is a small volume material, similar to gold, so weapons and art made of silver will require ten times the units of a normal resource. Silver is also a necessary ingredient in building sterile tiles, which improve the rate at which your colonists do research and reduce the chance of infection during recovery from wounds. Sterile tiles boost cleanliness up to 0.60 (Sterile).
Steel
An iron-carbon metal alloy used for building a huge variety of structures, weapons, and machines.
Steel is a raw resource, crucial throughout the game for different purposes, such as construction of various structures, and production of weapons and armor.
Uranium
"A dark, heavy metal. While it is best known as a fuel for nuclear devices, its extreme density and hardness also make it good for making certain weapons, armor, and ammunition."
Uranium is one of the rarest materials in the game. It can be used to craft very powerful but slow blunt weapons (with the uranium mace being the most powerful blunt melee weapon in the base game), and it is also a required element in the construction of certain late-game high-tech constructions, most notably the end-game ship.
