Surviving the harsh, terraformed wilderness of Icarus requires constant technological advancement and resource gathering. Moving from basic stone and iron tools into Tier 3 technology marks a major turning point for any prospector looking to conquer the moon's threats. Steel is the definitive gateway material for crafting advanced machinery, structural components, and high-tier weaponry needed for endgame missions.
Unlocking the Necessary Technology Tier
Before you can begin manufacturing steel, your character must reach level 20 to unlock Tier 3 blueprints. You will need to spend blueprint points on the Machining Bench, which acts as the core crafting station for advanced metallurgical projects. Additionally, unlocking the recipe for Steel Bloom is an absolute necessity to combine your raw resources properly.
Crafting the Machining Bench itself demands a substantial investment of baseline resources like iron ingots, copper ingots, wood, and leather. Once placed in your base, this bench allows you to construct advanced tools that vastly outperform their iron predecessors. Planning your level progression around these specific unlocks will save you valuable time during difficult planetary sessions.
Gathering the Core Materials
Producing steel requires a specialized recipe consisting of iron ore and coal combined into a raw mixture. Iron ore can be found abundantly inside various caves scattered across the map, though players must watch out for dangerous cave worms. Coal deposits are usually located in the same underground environments or exposed along rocky cliff faces in mountainous biomes.
To optimize your harvesting process, utilizing a high-quality pickaxe will ensure you maximize the resource yield per node. Carrying a portable light source or establishing a small shelter near cave entrances can help streamline your mining runs significantly. Accumulating large stacks of both iron and coal early on ensures a smooth transition once your machinery is fully operational.
Crafting Steel Blooms and Smelting
Once you have secured enough raw ingredients, use the Mortar and Pestle to grind your iron ore and coal together into Steel Blooms. This intermediate material represents the unrefined mixture required by high-temperature crafting stations. You will need a significant amount of these blooms to support large-scale construction or full gear upgrades.
The next step requires placing your newly crafted blooms into a Concrete Furnace or an advanced electric furnace variant. Fuel the furnace with wood, coal, or specialized fuels to begin the smelting process that yields pure steel ingots. These completed ingots can then be taken back to the Machining Bench to manufacture powerful weapons, sturdier armor, and deep-space exploration components.
