Distribution of the materials in the galaxy
Materials are a resource required to build blocks for ships, or to help pay for a ship to be constructed at a shipyard. Their strength and cost increase with their tiers, and have different weights and can form different types of blocks. The material of a block can also affects blocks, such as the energy generated by Generators, the power of Shield Generators, or the effectiveness of Hyperspace Cores. The increase in tiers does not always affect some dedicated block's functions that differ from block durability and cost, such as the energy generated by Solar Panels, the thrust from Engines and Thrusters, or the effectiveness of a Computer Core.
Each material type has a specific color. Asteroids containing a certain material are dyed in their material's color, as well as blocks made of that material. Some of this color can persist through painting.
Material Types
Each material has a certain strength level. Starting with Titanium, each material is 50% stronger than its predecessor. This means, that, for example, a ship made of Titanium has 1.5 times more Health Points than an identical ship made of Iron. Material costs are always constant between tiers, but the credit cost increases by 35% each tier.
Values given are from a 1x1x1 size cube of generic hull.
| Material | Color | Mass | Durability | Credit Cost | Material Cost | Distance From Core |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron | 51 | 4 | 11.1111 | 5 | Ubiquitous | |
| Titanium | 30 | 6 | 15 | 5 | Ubiquitous, but rarer | |
| Naonite | 33 | 9 | 20.25 | 5 | 375 | |
| Trinium | 21 | 13.5 | 27.3375 | 5 | 300 | |
| Xanion | 27 | 20.25 | 36.905625 | 5 | 200 | |
| Ogonite | 45 | 30.375 | 49.82259375 | 5 | Inside the Barrier | |
| Avorion | 36 | 45.5625 | 67.2605015625 | 5 | Near the Core |
See the table at API:Material for more information and exact numbers from the game's code.
Avorion is approximately 11x stronger than Iron. Iron is the Heaviest, followed by Ogonite, Avorion, Naonite, Titanium, Xanion, and finally Trinium.
Acquisition
Materials can be acquired by mining asteroids that contain the material, salvaging wreckages of ships and stations constructed with it, or visiting the Resource Depot in an appropriate region of the Galaxy to purchase them with credits.
Each material has a level of acquisition, depending on its type. This level is simply the number or index of the material, starting with Iron (level 0), up to Avorion (level 6). A mining laser and salvaging laser can only efficiently mine materials that are no more than one level above the material it is made of. As an example, a Naonite Mining Turret can mine Titanium at a faster rate, and it can mine Iron at an even faster rate. However, this turret will need to take extra time to mine Trinium, and it cannot mine Xanion at all.
Distribution
The distribution of the materials depends on the position of the sector in the galaxy. Common materials like Iron or Titanium can be found at the edge of the galaxy, whereas the more advanced materials are found closer to the center of the galaxy. The asteroid types will mix fairly well, adding into the potential resource pool of the current available material tier and all tiers below it, so the player is not required to venture long distances for the cheaper materials.
Ore Uses
Gyros, Crew Quarters, Thrusters, Engines, Cargo, Armour, and Integrity Fields should be made out of Titanium/Trinium depending on your progress towards the core, because of their better mass:hitpoints ratio and because their effectiveness isn't dictated by the ore used. (It is more effective to make a larger ship out of Trinium than a smaller one out of Ogonite or Xanion. Making a larger ship also gives more room for functional blocks!) Functional blocks such as Generators, Batteries, Shields, and Hyperspace Cores should be made of your highest available tier of ore, as they DO become more efficient.
| Materials | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron | Titanium | Naonite | Trinium | Xanion | Ogonite | Avorion | |