Astroneer is a sandbox game at its core, which means it doesn't have a main storyline you'll have to follow through as many other games do. This gameplay aspect leaves you with plenty of freedom to explore the frontiers of outer space and reshape planets to your liking. However, to fully unleash your imagination and create the solar system of your dreams, you'll have to gather and repurpose lots of resources.
One of the must-have materials in this game are the newly introduced EXO Chips. These are a pretty rare resource needed to get vehicles such as the VTOL or the Hoverboard and were introduced back in June 22, 2021, with patch 1.20. Below you'll find everything you need to know about EXO chips and where to find them.
What Are EXO Chips
EXO chips are a new resource to Astroneer that resembles four computer chips glued together. These chips are a rare resource, and with good reason - they can't be crafted, only found or purchased.
- If you want to, you can shred EXO chips for three pieces of scrap.
Doing all the hard work of getting EXO chips will be worth it in the end. These chips are used to craft multiple items, including vehicles, and are also required to complete certain missions in the game, such as:
|
Mission |
What You'll Have To Do |
|---|---|
|
Prototype Recovery |
Retrieve an EXO Chip |
|
Tracing the Transmission |
Insert an EXO Chip in the MAT on Desolo |
|
Vertical Thinking |
Retrieve an EXO Chip from a Vehicle Data Recorder on Vesania |
|
Bootstrapping |
Insert an EXO Chip in the MAT on Vesania |
|
Analysis Paralysis |
Insert three EXO Chips in a MAT |
How To Get EXO Chips
Astroneer's gameplay mechanics rely heavily on crafting new things, but you won't be able to make EXO chips out of other materials; instead, you'll have to find this resource by:
- Blowing up EXO Caches or a Vehicle Data Recorder
- Purchasing them from the Trade Platform
- Getting them as a reward for completing certain in-game missions.
Missions That'll Give You EXO Chips
When you complete a mission in Astroneer, you'll usually get Bytes, items, devices, etc. But, there's one mission in the game that'll give you Exo chips instead, this one it's called Cracking Caches.
During this mission, you'll have to find and blow up an EXO Cache (keep in mind that you'll need an advanced explorer kit to complete this objective). After doing so, you'll be rewarded with three EXO Chips.
Getting EXO Chips From EXO Caches
EXO caches are the main way you'll be able to obtain EXO chips in Astroneer. These caches look like sturdy boxes, and they hold between one to three chips inside. To open EXO caches, you'll have to use dynamite to blow them up.
Luckily, EXO caches are found on every planet in the game, although they are mainly found underground. These caches spawn in any layer of the planet, so make sure you look for them everywhere, even in caves.
To make things easier, you can use your compass (which you can activate by opening the action wheel and selecting the compass icon) to find these caches.
- Tip: a green circular icon will show up when EXO caches are in the range of your compass AoE.
While dynamite is essential to open up EXO caches, you don't need to go crazy and crafts tons of them. Be smart with using your resources - pile up multiple EXO caches, and then use one single piece of dynamite to blow them up.
When looking for EXO caches, also keep an eye out for a Vehicle Data Recorder. This one is a special type of EXO cache that can be found on certain planets. Like with regular EXO caches, you can blow up a Vehicle Data Recorder with dynamite to get EXO chips.
Just keep in mind that the symbol in the compass for the Vehicle Data Recorder is a blue circle instead of a green one.
Buying EXO Chips From The Trade Platform
There are many useful modules you can make in this game; one of them is the Trade Platform, a module that allows you to trade scrap or Astronium to get resources and many other items.
To get EXO chips from the Trade Platform, you'll have to trade in three Astronium (which is another rare resource in the game, so getting EXO chips this way might not be ideal).
What Can You Make With EXO Chips
EXO Chips are mainly used to craft useful items and vehicles. Here you'll find everything you'll be able to make with them as well as how many chips you'll need:
|
Item |
Materials Needed |
Where can you make it |
|---|---|---|
|
Small Camera |
|
Backpack Printer |
|
Hoverboard |
|
Backpack Printer |
|
Hydrazine Thruster |
|
Small Printer |
|
Winch |
|
Small Printer |
|
Trade Platform |
|
Medium Printer |
|
Large Shredder |
|
Medium Printer |
|
VTOL |
|
Medium Printer |
|
Extra Large Shredder |
|
Large Printer |
|
Auto Extractor |
|
Large Printer |
|
Large Rover |
|
Large Printer |
|
Large Shuttle |
|
Large Printer |
And that's everything you need to know about EXO Chips in Astroneer.