Astroneer is an adventure, exploration game in an open universe filled with seven planets, and there are a lot of things players can do in the game. While surviving is the prime goal at first, as players further their progress, they will soon find that exploring different planets and gathering materials to build and craft is the next goal.

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By exploring, players will figure out what needs to be done and naturally follow the course of the game. And with that comes one of the best mechanics in the game, receiving Bytes from exploring and scanning new materials, resources, flora and creatures that players come by. Bytes are an important aspect to the game to continue down the road of success and completing the game, but there can be times when players start getting stagnant on their earnings, so what is the best way players can stockpile on Bytes?

What Are They, And Why Bother?

astroneer bytes blueprints

Bytes is the virtual currency that was recently added to the game during the research update, which hints at what players need to do for them. Research! While the idea of having a currency when players are in the middle of a vacant planet in an unknown universe sounds funny, they are incredibly important. Some things won't be possible for players unless they have bytes.

So what are they really used for? To put it simply, Bytes are needed for players to buy blueprints, or schematics, that will allow players to build and learn more builds to help them progress the game. It can be a tedious job to have to find currency to unlock things like a printer or smelter, but it's vital and necessary.

But how does it truly work? So when players land on their initial planet, they will have to explore, use the terrain tool to gather and move the terrain, and then work on building items like a printer, or a generator. When players look at either their first printer or their backpack printer, there will be different items that are available to craft. Some of these items will need to be unlocked with Bytes so that players can look at that recipe and create it!

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Of course, the higher level the player goes up, the more expensive these blueprints can cost, so players should never pass up an opportunity to scan and collect items to research, because Bytes are necessary for every item made in the game. For those curious, the total number of Bytes players will need to research every item in the game is 284,050!

How To Get Bytes

astroneer research chamber

Research, research, research. Never pass up something to scan or gather, try to collect as much as possible! The first step to actually gather decent Bytes is to craft a Research Chamber which converts Research Items, Research Samples and Resources into Bytes. And depending on their rarity depends on how many Bytes players will get.

To craft the Research Chamber, players will just need 2 Compound and 1 Resin. Potentially having a few at a time can shorten the time it takes to research all items that players find throughout their journey, but that is optional. Note that this can only be made once players have the Medium Printer, and it needs 2 Units of power to run at full speed, so make sure generators or some source of power is helping the machine go!

Research Samples

Let's look at the difference of these items that can be placed in the Chamber, so players know what to look for in the wild! For Research Samples, players will need to find items that can be found on flora, or plants, and rocks, or even items found on that backpacks of dead explorers, or in wreckage.

What's great about this is that these Samples will respawn over time, so it's a great way to keep grinding at Bytes. Note that if these are found on difficult planets or near the core, they will yield more bytes. For example, Glacio and Atrox caves gives an average of 300-400 bytes. The core of Glacio is 800, and the core of Atrox is 1100.

Research Items

Research Items are similar to Research Samples, however they are medium-sized, which means they won't be able to be carried in players backpacks, which can make things more difficult. However, the value of these items are much higher, meaning players should try to gather as many as they find. Just like the Samples, there are a variety of Items that can be found near wreckages, near plants and minerals in caves. The wreckage Items can vary in value of 2500-12000, while the minerals can vary between 400-14000 depending on what kind it is and which planet they are on. Atrox and Glacio has the highest valued Items that range around 6000-14000

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Those that want to be adventures and try their hand at dangerous flora, there are some Research Items that are the highest value by finding a hostile flora, such as Volatile Attactus that can be found on Atrox, valuing between 3000-3500 Byes.

Resources

And lastly Resources, which players will find naturally through digging up the terrain or exploring the planets. These items are the main components to Astroneer, as they are mostly the materials needed to craft items, such as Organic, Compound, Resin, Clay, etc. These can be gathered, traded at the Trading Post, and crafting. Every planet has its own set of Resources that are not available on other planets, so exploring the whole universe is needed. This is the least valuable way to gain Bytes however, because there is usually an abundance of them, it can be a great way to grind some when players are in a pinch.

Note that resources gathered and refined in the smelter will have more value than those that haven't been smelted! But what are the highest valued resources that players can find on each planet? While there is an abundance of resources on each planet, these are the highest valued.

Planet

Resource

Sylva

Nitrogen (200)

Atrox

Methane (400), Helium (500)

Desolo

Wolframite and Sphalerite (100)

Glacio

Argon (300)

Novus

Methane (400)

Calidor

Sulfur (300)

Vesania

Argon (300)

Summary

astroneer all resources

There are a lot of mechanics when players are looking for currency, it can be overwhelming for some. For those starting out, the best way to gain Bytes is to scan and gather as much as possible at the beginning. From there, they can manage to craft the medium printer and then the research chamber. After this, players will need to explore their little hearts out and throw everything they can in that chamber.

Slowly but surely, after more crafting, they will be able to explore the different planets. Like mentioned, going to Atrox and Glacio seems to deem players the most high-valued items and resources to research, and that is when the big money starts to roll in. So don't worry if it takes a while before the currency to come, because the starting planet normally doesn't give players that many Bytes. But soon, players will have so many that researching and crafting will be an easy job!

Astroneer is available now on Windows PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.

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