Gathering resources is essential in The Alters. Organics, Metals, Minerals, Rapidium, and ALX are all super vital to the success of the mission, not to mention Jan Dolski’s survival.
But how do you not only gather them, but also maximise efficiency in The Alters? Read our handy guide to find out.
Install Outposts
First of all, get mining outposts up and running as soon as you can in each Act. They are utterly essential and will never run out of resources. They also yield more if you use them during a Magnetic Storm. This should be your first port of call, followed by linking them to your base using Pylons. You’ll typically need one or sometimes two packs of Pylons, each containing three, to connect an outpost to your base.
Delegate duties
If you can’t mine yourself (and let’s face it: you’re a busy guy), make sure to assign an Alter to gather resources you need. They’ll appear to be slower, but that’s just because it only fast-forwards time if it’s you doing the work. Assign the Miner or mine during Magnetic Storms to increase yields by 50%.
Don’t mine every outcrop immediately
Don’t mine every outcrop you see or scoop up every loose node lying around, as tempting as it can be. In a sudden crisis, these nodes can be extremely useful, as each one yields 60 units. You can’t get ALX this way, but the other four you can. At two points during each Act more nodes will appear on the map, allowing you to do mine them again.
Manage storage modules
One of the biggest barriers to efficiency is storage space. While it can be tempting to go hell for leather and fill your boots, it’s really better to keep a steady supply of materials to allow the upkeep of essential items and only top up when you have a Module to build. This way you won’t end up running out of space and be forced to destroy valuable resources. Keep an eye on Storage and convert a surplus of resources into useful items like Repair Kits, Rad Filters, Suit Batteries, or Raw Food.
Don’t waste anything
As a counterpoint, don’t make things you just don’t need for the hell of it. It’s the easiest way to run out of resources and can be hard to recover from. Keeping a supply of Enriched Metals will allow you to refine it into Metals and Organics for no extra storage space, but if you’re not refining it you can end up with a surplus you’ll need to destroy as you can’t craft anything with Enriched Metals in their prime state.
So there you go. Now you know how to maximise efficiency in The Alters.
