The game that keeps on giving, No Man's Sky, has continued to add content of all sizes to the game for years, and still shows no signs of slowing down. While many of the features are placed front and center for you to enjoy, such as mechs and horrifying abandoned spaceships to explore, there are other elements purposefully made a bit harder to access. Chromatic Metal is just one resource you'll be wishing you had more of for how many situations it will come in handy in. If you're curious about the best way to obtain this new material from the NEXT update, we've solved all of its mysteries.
No Man's Sky - What Is Chromatic Metal For?
Chromatic Metal is a somewhat rare material that has a ton of uses in No Man's Sky. You'll be using it to build equipment, repair Drop Pods, and craft a bunch of Technology. A few, and this is just a tip of the iceberg, of the items you will need it to craft are:
Advanced Signal Booster
Base Computer
Construction Terminal
Electromagnetic Generator
Hyperdrive
Science Terminal
Short-Range Teleporter
Superior Translator
Weapons Terminal
Basically, this is something you will want to be stocked up on at all times in No Man's Sky.
No Man's Sky Chromatic Metal Recipe
The unfortunate part of Chromatic Metal is that you can't come across it in any natural source in the universe. The only ways to get it are through crafting or purchasing it, although you might get lucky and find it in a random container. Crafting is by far the most efficient, and reliable, way to keep your stocks high. Here's the fastest way to craft it:
- Mine a load of Copper, Cadmium, Emeril, or Indium. Because Copper shows up most often, you'll likely be able to get a ton of it easiest of those listed. Just flip on your Analysis Visor and scan the landscape for resources to mine, and use your Terrain Manipulator to get at those sweet metals.
- Build a Portable Refiner. You should already have one of these, but in the rare instance you don't, they're built from one metal plating (crafted from 50 Ferrite Dust), and 30 Oxygen. Open the Equipment section of the build menu and plop one down.
- Add the Copper, or whichever material you have, add some fuel, and start crafting. Just throw in your metal on the left hand side, put in either Carbon or Condensed Carbon on top, and you'll start pumping out Chromatic Metal. Just be sure to remember to actually collect the metals before you leave.
How To Farm Chromatic Metal
Farming Chromatic Metal isn't the fastest process in the world, but all comes down to tracking down one of those metals previously listed in as big of a deposit as possible. Use your ship to scan more of the environment at once, and set up multiple refiners to speed up the process. The rarer the metal you use in the process, from Copper to Indium, the more Chromatic Metals you get, so prioritize the harder to get stuff.
Infinite Chromatic Metal
There is one exploit that was found to trivialize your Chromatic Metal needs by giving you an infinite source. All you need is a refiner, four Indium, and four Chromatic Metals to start. Just put the four Indium and four Chromatic Metals into the refiner to produce eight Indium. Then add four of those eight Indium into the refiner again, or a second one, to get eight Chromatic Metal. Repeat the process as many times as you want, never losing any resources.