Astroneer is a survival game in which you can travel through a solar system, setting up new bases and going on expeditions to discover new resources. Whilst driving around in the Buggy or Rover is certainly fun in Astroneer, there's something special about hovering around planets in a VTOL.
Although it isn't quite powerful enough to jet between planets (you'll need a shuttle for that), it's a quick mode of transport to use when searching for certain resources or points of interest. This guide will cover everything that you need to know to get your first VTOL in Astroneer.
How To Unlock The VTOL In Astroneer
You can unlock the VTOL schematic and get a free VTOL by completing a set of missions that starts with "Fuel For Thought" and ends with "Finished Product". Missions can be accessed via the mission log, which you can find on the side of landing pads or in your quick menu. You cannot choose to buy the VTOL schematic with Bytes, so there is no way to skip these missions.
To start this chain of missions, you'll need to unlock "Fuel For Thought". Completing certain missions will unlock further tasks, but fortunately, Fuel For Thought is unlocked quite early on in Astroneer. You'll simply need to gather some resources, make a few easy items, like the Medium Printer and the Smelting Furnace, and travel to another planet. All of those steps are covered in our guide to finding Iron. At the end of that guide, instead of going to Novus to find Iron, travel to Calidor to find Wolframite, which you can smelt into Tungsten.
After receiving Tungsten for the first time, you can continue to build the Chemical Lab and Atmospheric Condenser, after which you will unlock the Fuel For Thought mission. This will set you on the path to your first VTOL.
How To Complete Fuel For Thought In Astroneer
Fuel For Thought tasks you with creating Hydrazine, an extremely important fuel resource in Astroneer. To do this, you must use the Atmospheric Condenser and the Chemistry Lab to create new items.
Hydrazine can be created in the Chemistry Lab by mixing two pieces of Ammonium with some Hydrogen. Ammonium can be made easily in the Soil Centrifuge. Hydrogen can be found using the Atmospheric Condenser on Sylva, Calidor, Novus, or Vesania. When you have a canister of Hydrogen, take it to the Chemistry Lab and make Hydrazine to unlock the next mission, "Vertical Thinking".
How To Complete Vertical Thinking In Astroneer
Vertical Thinking requires you to travel to Vesania in search of a Vehicle Data Recorder. This is essentially a special Exo Cache that is marked on your compass and screen so that you can track it down easily. When you get there, you will find some Dynamite on the floor. Use the Dynamite to destroy the Vehicle Data Recorder. This will complete Vertical Thinking and reward you with some Exo Chips, which you can find amongst the debris. Pick these up, as you will need them later on. You will also unlock the next mission, Bootstrapping.
How To Complete Bootstrapping In Astroneer
Bootstrapping is a simple follow-on to Vertical Thinking that will task you with a bit more exploration. Blowing up the Vehicle Data Recorder reveals the location of the Material Analysis Transmitter (MAT) on your Compass. Use the Compass to find the MAT on Vesania and insert an Exo Chip that you got from Vertical Thinking to complete Bootstrapping. This will unlock two more missions: What The Thrust and Substance Selection. To complete these you need to provide a range of resources to the MAT.
How To Complete What The Thrust In Astroneer
What The Thrust involves supplying two Hydrogen canisters and two Nitrogen canisters to the MAT. These can both be obtained by using the Atmospheric Condenser on Sylva (the starting planet) or Vesania, so you shouldn't need to travel anywhere new. When you have obtained two canisters of each gas, put them on the MAT and continue with Substance Selection.
How To Complete Substance Selection In Astroneer
To complete Substance Selection, you need to provide two pieces of Graphite, two pieces of Titanium, and two pieces of Tungsten to the MAT. Tungsten can be found on Calidor in the form of Wolframite, which you found earlier in this guide.
Titanium can be obtained by smelting Titanite, which is found on Vesania. Look around the surface of Vesania to find a few pieces, and then head to your Smelting Furnace to get Titanium.
Finally, Graphite can be obtained simply by producing it in the Soil Centrifuge. Insert all of these materials into the MAT to finish Substance Selection. Once both Substance Selection and What The Thrust have been completed, you will unlock the Further Refinement mission. You're getting close to the VTOL now, so don't give up.
How To Complete Further Refinement In Astroneer
The MAT needs a few more resources, so Further Refinement tasks you with providing two pieces of Silicone and two pieces of Tungsten Carbide. These resources are fairly easy to get at this point since you already have the necessary modules. First, you'll want to head over to the Chemistry Lab to make some Tungsten Carbide.
Tungsten Carbide can be created by combining Tungsten and Carbon in the Chemistry Lab. As mentioned previously, you can get Tungsten by smelting Wolframite. Carbon can be obtained by smelting Organic, which is the green item you get from destroying plants and other organic matter.
Silicone is also made in the Chemistry Lab. It is made by combining Resin, Quartz, and a canister of Methane.
Resin and Quartz are easy to find, as they can be made in the Soil Centrifuge. However, Methane is a gas that can only be found on Novus or Atrox. Novus is the safer of these two planets, so we'd recommend that you travel there.
When you are ready, make an Atmospheric Condenser, produce some Methane canisters, and make your way back to the Chemistry Lab to create Silicone. When you have two pieces of Silicone and Tungsten Carbide, insert them into the MAT to complete Further Refinement. This will unlock the penultimate mission, Analysis Paralysis.
How To Complete Analysis Paralysis In Astroneer
Analysis Paralysis tasks you with finding three Exo Chips, which you need to insert into the MAT. These can be found by destroying Exo Caches with Dynamite, just like you did with the Vehicle Data Recorder in Vertical Thinking. Exo Caches can be located by looking for green icons on the Compass whilst you explore. They are fairly common, so you shouldn't have too much difficulty in finding them. If you are struggling, use a Rover to help you travel around quicker. You can build one using our Rover guide here.
When you have your three Exo Chips, insert them into the MAT on Vesania to complete Analysis Paralysis and unlock the final mission, Finished Product.
How To Complete Finished Product In Astroneer
Your final mission is very simple. To complete Finished Product in Astroneer, all you need to do is activate the MAT. Once that is done, head back to your Landing Pad to collect the rewards for Finished Product, which includes a VTOL and the VTOL schematic.
How To Craft A VTOL In Astroneer
With that, you might never want to hear the word VTOL again. That's understandable because it was a very long journey. However, you'll quickly realise that the VTOL is an extremely useful vehicle. If you want to get one for all of your bases across every planet, you'll need to get crafting. There are no more free VTOLs lying around!
To craft the VTOL, you need to use the Medium Printer. Within, you will find the VTOL recipe. Here are the ingredients that you will need to find to make one yourself:
- Exo Chip
- Tungsten Carbide
- Silicone
You will recognise all of those from the missions you just completed, so they should be rather easy to obtain at this point. With that, you can build all the VTOLs your heart desires.