Just as it has been in most modern Bethesda games, crafting, and the mechanics that support it, are profoundly important toStarfield’s gameplay loop. Nearly every experience in the game can be enhanced through researching and building the right items. However, because the system is so robust, players will find that they are spending a considerable amount of time collecting resources before they can even jump into the fun parts. Luckily, there are ways to drastically reduce the time investment need to gatherStarfield’s crafting materials.
For this guide, the main focus will be ornamental material. This resource is needed for a considerable amount of both crafting and research projects, meaning players will find themselves needing a fair amount throughout the game. This guide will show players the steps to find a planet that is likely to have all the ornamental materials they need, a process that will work not only for this resource, but almost all basic organic resources inStarfield.
Related:Starfield: How to Get Adhesive
How to Get Ornamental Material in Starfield
There are essentially two key methods of getting basic crafting materials like ornamental items. First, players can simply purchase them. This method is genuinely helpful, especially when players only need a small amount for a single project. However, when players need to find ornamental materials in bulk, for something like a large-scale outpost build, the best option is the second key method: harvesting from Flora and Fauna.
Where to Purchase Ornamental Material in Starfield
When looking to purchase any basic crafting material, there is a good rule of thumb to follow when deciding on a merchant to try: aim for locations that do not specialize in a single product, but instead look for merchants that offer a ‘general’ selection of goods.
Every large city inStarfieldshould have at least one option, and though the rule is not 100% effective, it is the most reliable way to approach purchasing materials. Consider the following options:
Mars
Sol
All of these options offer ornamental material for prices hovering around 10 credits each, depending on the player’s skills. Players may think that the Trade Authority may be a good option for such items, and sometimes they can be, but they are not as reliable with resources as the merchants above.
Another good option for purchasing any crafting resource, is the Civilian Outposts players can find on many of the planets in the Settled Systems. Their merchants often carry a wide range of crafting materials.
How to Farm Ornamental Material in Starfield
The first step to gathering large amounts of any organic resource, is to look for planets with an abundance of life. Generally speaking, these types of planets are rare, but luckily for players, most of the major settled systems will feature at least one. In fact, a great example of this type of planet is found very early inStarfield:The home of New Atlantis, Jemison.
Scanning Jemison - or any desired planet - from space will reveal a wide variety of flora (plant life) and fauna (animal life). When there are more than five varieties of each, the chances of one of them not featuring a desired material is fairly slim.
Once a suitable planet has been found, the next step is to begin scanning each plant and animal. There are several skills inStarfield’s Science branchthat will make this a much quicker process. Considering investing in the following
:
These skills will make harvesting large quantities of any biological material incredibly fast. Once the player has identified a plant or animal that has the ornamental material, they can then focus in on where that plant or animal is most likely to be on the planet.
Consider using theEternal HarvestStarborn power when harvesting materials from plants. This will allow players to repeatedly respawn a harvested material from a single plant. The only limit is how long it takes the power meter to recharge.
Harvesting through Outposts:
In the mid-to-late game section ofStarfield, players will have the option to create certain types of habitation modules at their outposts. One of these habitats will allow players to grow and harvest materials from certain plants. However, the time and resource investment that this takes, is not conducive to the act of quickly amassing large quantities of any resource, especially in the early-to-mid sections of the game.
However, if players wish to look further into this option, the best place to start is upgrading theOutpost Engineeringskill, which is found in the Science branch. This will allow players to begin researching the various types of habitats, such as the horticulture habitat. For more information on building outposts in general, check out guide on how tobuild and link outposts inStarfield.
Starfieldis available now on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
