The expedition loop
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1. Drop | Pick a planet on the Star Map and land. The first reward pod lets you choose your weapon |
| 2. Pipeline out | Extend pipelines from the Collector toward deposits and objectives. They carry resources home and power your base |
| 3. Mine | Use the mining laser on Titanium, Electrium crystals, Nitrate and Biomass, then drop the loot on the pipeline |
| 4. Build | Place turrets, generators and fabricators from Build Kits on pipeline nodes |
| 5. Defend | Waves escalate the longer you stay. Repair turrets with the mining laser |
| 6. Reward pods | Open them as they land to pick up mods for this run |
| 7. Extract | Finish the quota and get out with what you’ve banked |
The quota shows in the top right during a job, e.g. Return Nitrate To Collector 162 / 750.
12 tips
- Do the tutorial. Solo stays locked until you do, even if you skip it to play co-op.
- Dash is free. Ground dash costs nothing since the demo. Use it constantly.
- Grind the pipelines. Boosting along a pipe is the fastest way around the base (and the Pipeline Drift mod speeds it up more).
- Drop loot on the pipeline, don’t carry it all. Electrium crystals released straight onto a pipe are the fastest pickup.
- One turret per node. Spread turrets along the line instead of stacking them at the Collector.
- Radar goes between the Collector and the turrets on the same pipeline. It boosts everything downstream.
- Repair between waves. The mining laser repairs turrets; Field Mechanic and Safety Protocols make it faster and safer.
- Fully harvest Biomass. It heals 10 HP, and you’ll need it for mod upgrades.
- Careful with the Grav Beam and explosive cargo. The game warns it “may result in unforeseen loss of Gravhounds.”
- Stuck objective object? Pull it free with the Grav Beam (the developer’s own advice).
- Out of Titanium on a Refinery job? Players found unmarked nodes near points of interest.
- Extract early, especially at first. A modest extract beats a heroic wipe.
First Research Points
- A second turret type once you have its blueprint (turrets).
- Cheap Worker and support mods: Hazard Pay, Safety Protocols, Field Mechanic (mods).
- Health in Training for your main hound (Research Lab).
- Then build a Mod Deck so pods offer what you want (Mod Deck).
Pick a hound
New players do well with Zane (Bark keeps the swarm off you and your turrets) or Finn (Play Dead saves you when things go wrong). All five: hounds.