Compound

Compound is a common basic resource found on all planets in Astroneer. It can be collected with the Terrain Tool, and its abundance varies by planet. It is one of the first materials players usually gather, since it is needed for several early-game recipes and mission objectives.

Compound can also be obtained through production and trading. The Soil Centrifuge produces 8 Compound from two full canisters of Soil, making it a reliable way to convert excess Soil into a useful building resource. The Trade Platform can exchange 2 Compound for each Scrap, up to 8 Compound total for 4 Scrap. It was also once obtainable from regenerating Compound nodes, but those were removed in version 0.4.10221.0 along with the rest of the node system.

In practice, Compound is most valuable early on because it is easy to gather and is used in a large number of recipes. It is commonly worth stockpiling before expanding into more specialized materials.

• It appears on every planet, though not equally often.
• It is gathered directly with the Terrain Tool.
• It can be produced from Soil with the Soil Centrifuge.
• It can be traded for on the Trade Platform using Scrap.
• It is required for the Resourcing mission, which asks the player to gather 4 Compound.
• It is used in crafting many items and modules, making it one of the core starter resources.